Kyle J. Hurley and Vinay A. Ravinder, both students at Hillsborough High School, are among approximately16,000 semifinalists in the 61st annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
The seniors will continue in the competition for some 7,400 National Merit Scholarships that will be offered next spring. About 90 percent of semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and about half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship.
Scholarships are underwritten by the scholarship corporation with its own funds and by about 440 business organizations and higher education institutions that share the goals of honoring scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.
About 1.5 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the competition by taking the 2014 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship qualifying test. 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.
Semifinalists and the high school must submit a detailed scholarship application of academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. A semifinalist must be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT scores that confirm the performance on the qualifying test.
