Every October, WS freshmen, sophomores and juniors come to school prepared to take their PSAT test. To most, it is just another test, but to a very select few it can mean a chance to kick start their college career.
WS is home to three National Merit Semifinalists, who are competing for prestigious scholarships from the National Merit Scholarship Competition. In order to have qualified for the scholarship, seniors Thomas Garcia, Kelly Giddens and John Lakwijk have shown exemplary scores on their PSAT from their junior year.
“[Being a semifinalist] is practically luck, I just took the PSAT and I was a little surprised that I was a semifinalist,” said Lakwijk.
In order to be considered as a finalist for the scholarship, students are required to send in an application to convey why they are best suited for the scholarship. These students are chosen based on their skills, abilities and accomplishments, testing scores and where they stand amongst other finalists.
“I’m pretty confident that I can be a finalist, but I’m not as confident in terms of winning [the scholarship] because the chances are a lot lower,” said Garcia.
The semifinalist pool of 16,000 students from around the country is trimmed down to 15,000 finalists. The number of finalists is cut almost in half to 8,000 students who qualify for one of three different scholarships. When the National Merit Scholarship Corporation notifies the winners of their success in March, they also specify which scholarship they won. There is a possibility of winning the $2,500 National Merit Scholarship, corporation-sponsored scholarship or even a college-sponsored scholarship. Only 2,500 students receive the National Merit Scholarship. Students only can only be awarded one type of scholarship.
“I basically have a 50% chance of winning the scholarship,” said Garcia.
For high school students across the country, getting into college is extremely competitive and students are looking for ways to make their application stand out to admission boards. The National Merit Scholarship will not only give the students compensation for their academic excellence, but it will also give these students the finishing touches they need for that extra edge.
“I think that the scholarship will hopefully help a lot because I am planning on applying to competitive schools,” said Garcia.
To Lakwijk, the scholarship could have potential to propel him to success even long after high school.
“I think that the scholarship will increase my chances of getting into a better college,” said Lakwijk, “But it could also help me later on and possibly help me get another scholarship. It’s definitely a good thing to have.”