Wendy Marie Wurmstein from Navarre High School, whose probable career field is military service, according to a press release from National Merit Scholarship Corporation, won a scholarship to Texas Tech University.
These awards provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution financing the scholarship, according to NMSC.
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College-sponsored Merit Scholarship winners announced today are a part of the
distinguished group of about 7,500 high school seniors who will receive National Merit
Scholarships for college undergraduate study worth approximately $33 million. Earlier this
spring, NMSC announced winners of corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards and National
Merit $2500 Scholarships.
2016 National Merit Scholarship Competition
Over 1.5 million juniors in some 22,000 high schools entered the 2016 National Merit
Scholarship competition when they took the 2014 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship
Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. Last fall,
approximately 16,000 Semifi nalists were named on a state-representational basis in numbers
proportional to each state’s percentage of the national total of graduating high school seniors.
Semifi nalists were the highest-scoring program entrants in each state and represented less than
one percent of the nation’s seniors.
To compete for Merit Scholarship awards, Semifi nalists fi rst had to advance to the
Finalist level of the competition by fulfi lling additional requirements. Each Semifi nalist was
asked to submit a detailed scholarship application, which included writing an essay and providing
information about extracurricular activities, awards, and leadership positions. Semifi nalists
also had to have an outstanding academic record, be endorsed and recommended by a high
school offi cial, and earn SAT® scores that confi rmed the qualifying test performance. From the
Semifi nalist group, some 15,000 met requirements for Finalist standing, and about half of the
Finalists will be Merit Scholarship winners in 2016.
NMSC, a not-for-profi t corporation that operates without government assistance, was
established in 1955 to conduct the National Merit Scholarship Program. The majority of National
Merit Scholarships provided each year are made possible by the support of approximately 440
independent corporate and college sponsors. These sponsors join NMSC in its efforts to enhance
educational opportunities for America’s scholastically talented youth and to encourage the
pursuit of academic excellence.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: National Merit Scholarship Corporation announces winners including Navarre High student