The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced more than 16,000 semifinalists in the 69th annual National Merit Scholarship Program on Wednesday, September 20, 2023, including two Putnam County Schools’ students.
Putnam County Schools would like to congratulate Jacob Holtzapfel and Brayden Marshall of Winfield High School on being selected among the West Virginia semifinalists.
The National Merit Semifinalists will go on to compete for approximately 7,140 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $28 million offered in the spring. More than 1.3 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2022 Preliminary SAT or the scholarship qualifying test. The nationwide semifinalists represent fewer than 1% of United States seniors. Of the more than 16,000 semifinalists, about 95% are expected to achieve finalist standing, and approximately half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship.
Finalists will be notified in February 2024, and National Merit Scholarship winners will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April 2024 and concluding in July.
To become a finalist, the semifinalists and a high school official must submit a detailed application that provides information about the student’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. In addition to an outstanding academic record, the semifinalists must be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the student’s performance on the qualifying test.