By: Vlada Rauner, Features Editor
River Hill High School has a reputation for high achieving students. This year, RHHS has exceeded expectations. Thirteen seniors have qualified as Semifinalists in the 2019 National Merit Scholarship Program.
Susan Baek, Karen Feng, Sophia Guan, Maanasa Gurram, Andrew He, Sara Jain, Ishan Patel, Megan Radcliffe, Rhea Senthil Kumar, Christian Stoen, Jessica Strongin, Ryan Van Gieson, and Brigette Wang have the amazing opportunity to compete for over 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $31 million dollars. These students have earned exceptionally high scores on the PSAT/NMSQT.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation receives 1.6 million annual entries from students all over the country. Only 50,000 of those students will qualify for the competition for over $31 million dollars of scholarships. These scholarships are divided into National Merit $2500 Scholarships, corporate-sponsored merit scholarship awards, and college-sponsored merit scholarship awards.
These funds are granted from over 140 independent sponsors and the NMSC’s own assets. According to the NMSC, “In late September, more than two-thirds (about 34,000) of the approximately 50,000 high scorers on the PSAT/NMSQT receive Letters of Commendation in recognition of their outstanding academic promise.”
Finalist selections are “based on their abilities, skills, and accomplishments—without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference”. The program is often commended for creating even opportunities for all students.
Along with this, every year 1,100 National Merit Program participants, who performed well but were not semi-finalists, are awarded Special Scholarships provided by corporations and business organizations. River Hill had thirty-six other students who were commended for their outstanding academic performances on the 2019 National Merit Scholarship Program. Isabelle Zhan, a merit scholarship qualifier, recounted the day she found out the great news, stating that “it was really nice to be recognized for my hard work, even though I was not a finalist, it made the studying worth it.”
Howard County and River Hill High School have an astounding reputation for their academic success, and it is not hard to see why. River Hill has definitely earned their superb reputation and still continues to excel in public education.