Alexander Spaeth, a senior at the Dr. TJ Owens Early College Academy – a smaller high school located on the Gavilan College campus at 5055 Santa Teresa Blvd. – was named a semifinalist today in the 58th annual National Merit Scholarship Corporation.
Selected from a pool of 1.5 million eligible U.S. students in more than 22,000 high schools, Spaeth is one of 16,000 “academically talented” seniors who will have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,300 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $32 million that will be offered next spring.
High schools students such as Spaeth were entered into the National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2011 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of semifinalists, representing less than one percent of US high schools seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state.
Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition. About 90 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and more than half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship. Last year, GECA senior Nishant Desai was designated as a finalist and is presently attending UC Berkeley.
To become a finalist, the semifinalist and their high 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 and honors/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.
Finalists will be notified of their standing in February. All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from a group of 15,000 finalists. 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.
The National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships that began in 1955, according to the organization’s website.
