There are a countless number of scholarship opportunities out in the world, which can be extremely helpful when it comes to paying for college. One of the most prestigious is the National Merit Scholarship. Students are entered when they take the PSAT (about 1.5 million students total) and less than one percent of scores qualify for semifinalist status.

The National Merit Scholarship federation has just notified the newest batch of semifinalists for this year’s program. These 16,000 students have a chance at winning a substantial scholarship to use toward the college that they plan to attend.

This year, Rocklin High School has two students that have made it to the semifinalist stage. Seniors Faith Holloway and Angela Hong recently applied to the final round to receive the National Merit Scholarship. They were notified at the end of September of their semifinalist status and will hear back regarding their scholarship applications in February 2016.

“My family was really happy. My older sister was a national merit finalist also; my whole family has always been supportive of me,” Angela tells.

Students become finalists by submitting a detailed application which states their academic achievements and gather recommendations from the school. This group of semifinalists will be used to select the winners of these scholarships.

In these applications, the semifinalists were to pick a first choice college at which to use their scholarship money if they win one. Faith chose Chapman University, while Angela chose University of Southern California.

If these semifinalists maintain their exceptional academic record, then can look into moving into the next round.

The following February, 15,000 students are notified that they have made it to the finalist round. Advancing is an exceptional achievement, and should get the recognition it deserves.

“I’d be ecstatic to make it to the finalist round because every bit of scholarship money helps,” Faith said.
It is a great honor to even be a part of this program, let alone make it to the final round. We should recognize our two Rocklin High School semifinalists as we wish them luck into the end of this academic competition.