Two Bartlett High Students Named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists

Bartlett – Two Bartlett High School seniors – Tiara Starks and Courtney Bernat – have been named semifinalists in the prestigious 55^th annual National Merit Scholarship program.  The names of approximately 1,600 semifinalists were released by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

 

            “Our Bartlett High School community celebrates the success of these two students,” said Dr. Kevin Skinkis, principal of Bartlett High.  “Considering that less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors are chosen as semifinalists, Tiara and Courtney have every reason to celebrate their academic success,” he added.

 

Their selection keeps them in the competition for National Merit Scholarships that will be offered next spring.  To be eligible for consideration, Starks and Bernat took the 2008 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test which served as an initial screen of entrants.  Only the highest scoring entrants in each state advance to become semifinalists.

 

            To be eligible for a National Merit Scholarship award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level, including having an outstanding academic record, being endorsed and recommended by their high school principal, and by earning SAT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test. 

 

            National Merit Scholarship awards will be offered in the spring of 2010.  Finalists will compete for one of 2,500 scholarships of $2,500.  In addition, nearly 200 colleges and universities are expected to finance 4,600 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for finalists who attend the sponsor institution.