BSD AGAIN LEADS NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM!

Boise, ID --10/08/12-- This school year the number of National Merit candidates in the Boise School District again surpasses any school district in the State of Idaho. A total of 27 District students are National Merit Semifinalists for the 2012-13 school year. This is the highest number of National Merit candidates of any Idaho school system, public or private.

"We are very proud of these students and the efforts they have made to perform at this high academic level," explained Dr. Don Coberly, Superintendent, Boise School District. "To be selected as a National Merit Candidate is indeed an honor that not only reflects positively on the student and his or her family, but also on the teachers and support staff here in the Boise School District. We wish each of these students well as they continue in the National Merit Finalists competition."

Following are the names of District students selected as this school year's National Merit Semifinalists, along with the tentative college major the student reported as a high school junior.

Boise High School

Samuel M. Baskin - Undecided

Hailey N. Chambers - Premedicine/Premedical Studies

Adam S. Christensen - Biological and Biomedical Sciences

Riley Freedman - Psychology

Ariana M. Garabedian - Engineering

Carl Harmon - Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering

Adam Z. Jiang - Materials Engineering

Maneesha Julakanti - Premedicine/Premedical Studies

Daniel C. Kaiser - Undecided

Oh Sang Kweon - Biological and Biomedical Sciences

Guangyi Lee - Neuroscience

Joseph R. Lovelace - Applied Mathematics

Lars C. Lund - Biochemistry

Erik H. Parkinson - Mathematics

Yoon-Su Ra - Chemical Engineering

Katherine J. Rogers - Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities

Emma D. Ryan - Neuroscience

Borah High School

Malachi M. Ring - Microbiological Sciences and Immunology

Capital High School

Christa G. Cole - Neuroscience

Braden R. King - Materials Engineering

Benjamin S. Larson - Music

Alexander R. Newman - Computer Science

Christina D. Wilmot - Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities

Timberline High School

Sarah M. Graham - Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering

Matthew A. Miller - Mathematics

David J. Mortin - Education

William C. Scoggin - Premedicine/Premedical Studies

Each of these academically talented high school seniors now have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,300 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $32 million that will be offered next spring. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship® award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. About 90 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and more than half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar® title.

Steps in the 2013 Competition

About 1.5 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2011 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing 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, the Semifinalist and their high school must submit a detailed scholarship application in which they provide information about the Semifinalist's academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, and honors and awards received. A Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SATscores that confirm the student's earlier performance on the qualifying test.

From the approximately 16,000 Semifinalists, about 15,000 are expected to advance to the Finalist level and in February they will be notified of this designation. All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from this group of Finalists. 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.

National Merit Scholarships

Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2013. Every Finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $2500 Scholarships that will be awarded on a state representational basis. About 1,000 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 240 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, about 200 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 4,800 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for Finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.

National Merit Scholarship winners of 2013 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July. These scholarship recipients will join more than 291,000 other distinguished young people who have earned 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 Scholarship Program. Scholarships are underwritten by NMSCwith its own funds and by approximately 440 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.  

Media Contact:

Dan Hollar

Public Affairs Administrator

Boise School District  

(208) 854-4064

dan.hollar@boiseschools.org