Ober Named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist

By LARISSA LYTWYN

Published: Dec 19, 2003 12:00 am

By Larissa Lytwyn

Bethany Ober, a senior at Newtown High School, was recently recognized as a semifinalist in the National Merit Scholarship Competition.

âIâm looking forward to continuing in the [competition],â she said.

The 2002 PSAT/NMSQT served as an initial screen of more than million entrants to the 2004 National Merit Program. Top scorers, numbering about 16,000 students nationwide, were designated semifinalists and publicly honored through announcements to the media.

By spotlighting semifinalists, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) hopes to increase general interest in academic excellence and to encourage broader educational support.

Before they can be considered for Merit Scholarship awards, semifinalists must qualify as finalists by completing the Merit Scholarship Application and fulfilling several other requirements, including academic transcripts and an essay topic provided by the NMSC.

About 8,000 finalists nationwide will be contacted in mid-February. NMSC does not make a news media announcement about finalists because semifinalists are publicly honored and about 90 percent of semifinalists are expected to reach finalist status.

There will be 2,500 single-payment National Merit $2,500 scholarships for which all finalists will be considered, about 1,100 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for finalists who meet a company or business grantorâs preferential criteria and 4,400 potentially renewable college-sponsored Merit Scholarships for which only finalists who attend their respective institutions are considered.

For more information on the National Merit Scholarship program, call 847-866-5161 or visit www.nationalmerit.org.

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Ober Named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist

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