The semifinalists for the 2024 National Merit Scholarship program were announced this week and we are so excited to share that we have four semifinalists at DCG High School!
DCG’s National Merit Semifinalists – Evin Jerry | Tess Meggison | Elisebeth Illian | Lucas Gerstenberger
National Merit Semifinalists represent less than 1% of all high school seniors across the country. They will now have an opportunity to continue in the competition for 7,140 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $28 million. These scholarships will be awarded next spring.
DCG Principal Travis Donahue surprised our semifinalists on Thursday, September 24. Watch the video below to see their reaction!
Over 1.3 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. 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. To become a Finalist, the Semifinalist and a high school official 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, employment, and honors and 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® or ACT® scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test. From over 16,000 Semifinalists, more than 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 group of 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.