Reidland H.S. student named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist | People

MCCRACKEN COUNTY, KY (KFVS) - A Reidland High School student was named a 2013 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist.

Officials of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced the names of approximately 16,000 Semifinalists in the 58th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

Reidland's Hannah Alton will have the opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,300 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $32 million that will be awarded next spring. 

Approximately 1.5 million juniors in some 22,000 high schools entered the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2011 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which serves as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, which represents less than 1 percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. 

To become a Finalist, a Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by the high school principal, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test. The Semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, which includes the student’s essay and information about the Semifinalist’s participation and leadership in school and community activities. 

From the approximately 16,000 Semifinalists, about 15,000 are expected to advance to the Finalist level, and in February they will be notified of this designation. All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from this Finalist group. Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference. 

Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2013. Every Finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $2,500 Scholarships that will be awarded on a state representational basis.

National Merit Scholarship winners of 2013 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July. These scholarship recipients will join more than 291,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.

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