How did Molly achieve this?
The National Merit Scholarship evaluates prospective National Merit Scholars via multiple elimination rounds. The first round is based solely on PSAT scores, with the highest scores progressing to the next round of evaluation. A semi-finalist must then meet other academic requirements in order to advance to become a National Merit finalist:
- Plan to enroll full-time in college the following fall
- Endorsement from your high school counselor, a teacher, and principal
- A record of high academic performance
- A completed National Merit Scholarship Application, including the submission of an essay
- An SAT or ACT score demonstrating excellence
The National Merit Scholarship program provides more information about qualifying to become a National Merit Scholar here.
The odds of becoming a National Merit finalist are around 1 in 160, or 0.625%. This is because only about 16,000 students are named Semifinalists, and of those, about 15,000 become Finalists.
Scholarship potential:
1. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation awards 2,500 one-time $2,500 scholarships to the top-achieving students.
2. Corporate-sponsored scholarships: These scholarships can be one-time awards of $2,500–$5,000, or renewable awards of $1,000–$10,000 per year.
3. College-sponsored scholarships: Many colleges offer scholarships (often full tuition) to finalists who are admitted. The amount varies per college.