Four Maine Township High School District 207 seniors have earned the status of National Merit Scholarship Finalist after being named semifinalists earlier this school year. The finalists include Kyungsoo Chon (left) and Emily Keller (center left) both from Maine South along with Sarah Phan (pictured center right) and Noah Trivedi (right) both from Maine East.
All honorees in the Merit Program are determined by performance on the PSAT taken by students in their junior year of high school.
Each year more than 1.6 million juniors in nearly 22,000 U.S. high schools enter the Merit Program. Finalists compete for approximately 8,300 Merit Scholarships worth more than $32 million. That process includes a detailed application process for the students. Three types of Merit Scholarships are offered:
- 2,500 one-time National Merit $2,500 Scholarships for which all finalists will be considered, and that are supported by business organizations and NMSC’s own funds
- approximately 1,000 corporate sponsored Merit Scholarships that are specified for finalists who meet a company or business grantor’s preferential criteria
- approximately 4,800 college sponsored Merit Scholarships that are available only for finalists who will attend their respective sponsor institution.
All Merit Scholar designees are chosen on the basis of their abilities, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin or religious preference.