New Canaan High School Students Named Merit Scholar Semifinalists

From New Canaan Public Schools: New Canaan High School seniors Conor West, Erin Spiess, Natasha Tchir, and Daniel Lu were named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists in the 64th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. The announcement was made earlier this month by officials of National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC).

Each year, approximately 1.6 million high school students enter the National Merit® Scholarship
Program, which is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships that began in 1955.
Of those entries, only approximately one percent qualify as Semifinalists. These students are
chosen from a pool with the highest PSAT/NMSQT ® Selection Index scores, and who have
qualified for recognition either as a Commended Student or Semifinalist. To ensure that
academically talented young people from all parts of the United States are included in this talent
pool, Semifinalists are designated on a state-representational basis. They are the highest scoring
entrants in each state.

“This remarkable accomplishment makes the entire community proud,” said New Canaan High
School Principal Bill Egan. “We are so fortunate to have students of this caliber in our school and
our district. I know how proud their families must be, because for these students to be recognized
in the top one percent nationally is truly impressive, and we applaud them.”

Each of these approximately 16,000 Semifinalists have an opportunity to continue in the
competition for some 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $31 million that will be
offered next spring. In February 2019, some 15,000 Semifinalists will be notified they have
advanced to Finalist standing. All winners of Merit Scholarship® awards are chosen from this
Finalist group based on their abilities, skills, and accomplishments - without regard to gender,
race, ethnic origin, or religious preference.

A variety of information is available for NMSC selectors to evaluate: the Finalist's academic
record, information about the school's curricula and grading system, two sets of test scores, the
high school official's written recommendation, information about the student's activities and
leadership, and the Finalist's own essay.

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 NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 410 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.

Photo: From left, New Canaan High School seniors Conor West, Erin Spiess, Natasha Tchir, and Daniel Lu were named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists. Photo credit: New Canaan Public Schools

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