Gorham High School (GHS) seniors Bruce Wyatt and Simon Roussel were recently named two of approximately 16,000 semifinalists in the 64th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Wyatt and Roussel each have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,500 National Merit scholarships worth more than $31 million that will be offered next spring.

To be considered for a merit scholarship award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition. The school must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received.

A semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.

“I am honored and flattered to receive this award, and would like to thank all of my teachers who work so hard to make this all possible,” said Wyatt.

According to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), over 90 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and about half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title. The program honors individual students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

“I am very honored to be a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist. I feel like it validates a lot of the time and effort I’ve put into school,” said Roussel.

Over 1.6 million juniors in about 22,000 high schools entered the 2019 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2017 Preliminary SAT/ National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.

In February, semifinalists will be notified if they are a finalist. Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered at the finalist level. Every finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $2,500 scholarships that will be awarded on a state-representational basis.

About 1,000 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 230 corporations and business organizations for finalists who meet their specified criteria, such as children of the grantor’s employees or residents of communities where sponsor plants or offices are located. In addition, about 180 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 4,000 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.

National Merit Scholarship winners will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July. These scholarship recipients will join some 338,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.