Two students from Mount St. Mary Academy have been named Semifinalists in the 62nd annual National Merit® Scholarship Program. Chloe Beall ’17 and Hannah Isaacs ’17 are among the 16,000 Semifinalists who represent the top one percent of the Class of 2017. Last fall, about 1.6 million juniors across the country entered the 2017 National Merit Scholarship competition by taking the PSAT qualifying test.

“These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth about $33 million that will be offered next spring,” according to a news release from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

Steps in the 2017 Competition

About 15,000 seniors will be announced as Finalists in February. To advance to the finals of the scholarship program, students must show a record of consistently high academic performance throughout high school while also earning SAT scores that confirm their earlier performances on the qualifying test. Their high school principal must also write a recommendation.

National Merit Scholarships

Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2017. Every Finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit® $2500 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. In addition, about 190 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 4,000 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for Finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.

Best of luck to Chloe and Hannah!