JHS Seniors Named National Merit Finalists

Above: 2008 National Merit Finalists Laura Dimmit (left) and Alan Liu

Joplin High School seniors Laura Dimmit and Alan Liu have been named Finalists in the 53rd annual National Merit Scholarship Program. The students are among approximately 15,000 scholastically talented high school seniors nationwide who will have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,200 Merit Scholarship awards, worth $33.9 million, to be offered in the spring.

Along with 1.4 million other students across the country, Laura and Alan entered the 2008 National Merit Program as high school juniors 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 1% of US 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.

About 90% of Semifinalists attain Finalist standing in the National Merit Program, and approximately half of the Finalists are selected as Merit Scholarship winners, earning the Merit Scholar title. Merit Scholar designees are selected based on their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

More information about the National Merit Scholarship Program can be found at www.nationalmerit.org.

posted 02/11/08