Wyoming Seminary Students Named National Merit Scholarship Recipients
 

From left: Diya Das, Ben Cushing, Molli Grossman, and Lauren Onofrey.

Four Wyoming Seminary graduates have received scholarships in the 2008 National Merit Scholarship competition, said John Gordon, Dean of the Upper School. Ben Cushing, Diya Das, Molli Grossman and Lauren Onofrey received National Merit Scholarships.

They were entered in the competition for about 8,200 Merit Scholarship Awards, worth $34 million, that were offered this spring.

National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), which conducts the academic competition, is a privately financed, not-for-profit corporation. More than 1.4 million students in nearly 21,000 U.S. high schools entered the 2008 Merit Program when they were juniors by taking the 2005 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants.

Fewer than one percent of the nation’s high school seniors were named Finalists on a state representational basis. To become Finalists, students earned Semifinalist status and had an outstanding high school academic record, were endorsed and recommended by their school principal, and submitted SAT scores that confirmed their earlier qualifying test performance.

About half of the Finalists became Merit Scholarship winners. All Merit Scholar designees were chosen from the Finalist group, without regard to race, gender, ethnic origin or religious preference. Three types of Merit Scholarship awards are offered in 2008. Every Finalist was considered for one of 2,500 National Merit $2,500 Scholarships that was awarded on a state representational basis.

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