35 DCPS
Students Named Semifinalists in the
2008 National Merit®
Scholarship Program
The names of approximately 16,000
Semifinalists in the 53rd annual National Merit
Scholarship Program were announced by officials
of National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC).
These academically talented high school seniors
have an opportunity to continue in the
competition for some 8,200 Merit Scholarship®
awards, worth $34 million, that will be offered
next spring. To be considered for a Merit
Scholarship award, Semifinalists must advance to
the Finalist level of the competition by
fulfilling several requirements. About 90
percent of the Semifinalists are expected to
attain Finalist standing, and approximately half
of the Finalists will be selected as Merit
Scholarship winners, 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 Program. Scholarships
awarded through the program are underwritten by
NMSC’s own funds and by approximately 500
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.
Competition Steps
More than 1.4 million juniors in nearly
21,000 high schools entered the 2008 National
Merit Program by taking the 2006 Preliminary
SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®),
which served as an initial screen of program
entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists,
which represents less than one percent of U.S.
high school seniors, includes the highest
scoring entrants in each state. The number of
Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the
state’s percentage of the national total of
graduating seniors.
To become a Finalist, a Semifinalist must
have an outstanding academic record throughout
high school, be endorsed and recommended by the
school principal, and earn SAT scores that
confirm the student’s earlier qualifying test
performance. The Semifinalist and a school
official must submit a detailed scholarship
application, which includes the student’s
selfdescriptive essay and information about the
Semifinalist’s participation and leadership in
school and community activities.
Approximately 15,000 Semifinalists will
advance to the Finalist level and it is from
this group that all Merit Scholarship winners
will be chosen. Merit Scholar designees are
selected on the basis of their skills,
accomplishments, and potential for success in
rigorous college studies, without regard to
gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious
preference.
Merit Scholarship
Awards
Three types of Merit Scholarship awards
will be offered in the spring of 2008.
Every Finalist will compete for one of 2,500
National Merit $2500 Scholarships that will be
awarded on a state representational basis. About
1,100 corporate-sponsored scholarships will be
provided by some 300 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, approximately 200 colleges and
universities are expected to finance some 4,600
college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for
Finalists who will attend the sponsor
institution.
Merit Scholarship winners of 2008 will be
announced in four nationwide news releases
beginning in April and concluding in July. These
scholarship recipients will join some 250,000
other distinguished young people who have earned
the Merit Scholar title.
Duval County Semifinalists
DOUGLAS
ANDERSON SCHOOL OF THE ARTS
Ogburn, Anne E.
Rodesney, Chris A.
PAXON
SCHOOL FOR ADVANCED STUDIES
Chang, Donald K.
Rana, Daoud S.
STANTON
COLLEGE PREPARATORY SCHOOL
Anthony, Devon M.
Brennan, Emily R.
Butler, Adam M.
Choudhary, Rewa K.
Davis, Jessica D.
Dietrich, Catherine A.
Dragovic, Nikola D.
Edwards, Amanda M.
Fant, Lauren E.
Furtick, Benjamin R.
Ge, Yang
Hainline, Brendan H.
Halloran, Caitlin A.
Hanson, Andrew S.
Hazrati, Taraneh A.
Holland, Jacob D.
Howlett, Nicole G.
Kang, Haemin
Lamell, Robert C.
Levine, Stefanie M.
Nayar, Vijay V.
Ng, Terry C.
Parikh, Jay P.
Perera, Chrisantha J.
Raj, Ganesh
Ramachandran, Visalakshi
Reich, Asaf Z.
Spengler, Justin W.
Varghese, Rojan M.
Wood, Christopher
D. U. FLETCHER H. S.
Pullen, Katherine T.
