24 Greenville County Schools Seniors Named Semifinalists in 2014 National Merit Scholarship Program

Officials of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced that 24 Greenville County Schools’ seniors are among 16,000 Semifinalists in the 59th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,000 National Merit Scholarships worth about $35 million that will be offered next spring.

• Eastside High (1) – Agustin Malki
• Greenville High Academy (1) - Alix C. Griffin
• Hillcrest High (1) – Jenna L. Mewborn
• J. L. Mann High Academy (2) – Donald J. Baracskay, David R. Melton
• Mauldin High (5) – William H. Cummings, Nikita G. Deshpande, Joshua E. Dunster, Kelsey L. Fuson, Zachary P. Girvin
• Riverside High (4) – Nida Ansari, Alexander Koo, Bryce C. Safrit, Kerry S. Yan
• Southside High Academy (5) – Jeremy B. Bell, Victorio Cabrera, Nishesh Chaubey, Lee C. Palms, Harrison R. Stall
• Wade Hampton High (5) - Maria E. Bartlett, Robert Bayliss, Thomas Caldwell, Haley N. Glenn, Maria P. Parrini

About 90 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and more than half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar® title. NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 440 business organizations and higher education institutions that share NMSC’s goals of honoring the nation’s scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.

Steps in the 2014 Competition

To become a Finalist, the Semifinalist and their high school 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 scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.

From the approximately 16,000 Semifinalists, about 15,000 are expected to advance to the Finalist level, and in February they will be notified of this designation.

National Merit Scholarships

Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2014. 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 240 corporations and business organizations for Finalists who meet their specified criteria, such as children of the grantor’s employees or residents of communities where sponsor plants or offices are located. In addition, about 200 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 4,500 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for Finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.

National Merit Scholarship winners of 2014 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July. These scholarship recipients will join more than 300,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.