CPS Students named National Merit & Achievement Finalists

Twenty one Seniors received recognition from the National Merit & Achievement Scholarship Program for academic excellence.

This time of year, high school students all over the country await National Merit announcements. It is after all one of the highest academic honors a student hopes to receive at the pinnacle of his or her high school years. After being selected as Semifinalists in September, twenty one CPS seniors have gone on to be recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Program for academic excellence as Finalists. This total represents almost 30 percent of the CPS class of 2006.

Award winners are selected based on a test they take as juniors, and they can be recognized at three levels: Commended students, Semifinalists and Finalists. Some of the latter are then eligible for scholarships.

Students receiving the recognition as Finalists from the National Merit Award are:

Zoe B. Anupam B., Noah B., Lauren B., Katherine C., Alexander C., Ryan D., Liza F., Phoebe J., Chelsea K., Joshua L., Rayna L., Alan R., Kunal R., Katherine R., Eric S., Charles S., Christina V., Meghan W. and Neal Y.

In addition, Sam D. has been identified as Finalist in the 2006 Competition for Achievement Scholarship Awards offered to outstanding Black American Students in 2006.

The National Merit program selected approximately 16,000 Merit Scholarship Semifinalists and Commendation winners in September 2005; of those, more than 15,000 have just been selected as Finalists across the nation for academic excellence. The Merit Scholarship winners, of which there will be about 8,200, will be announced beginning in April. The National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships that began in 1955. High-school students enter the National Merit Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT)— a test which serves as an initial screen of approximately 1.3 million entrants each year — and by meeting published program entry/participation requirements.