2 Stillwater Students Named National Merit Finalists

Two Stillwater High School students have been named National Merit Scholarship Finalists. Jacob Kosyakovsky and Marta Markowicz are among just 16,000 high school students from across the country recognized for their academic accomplishments.

Each year about 1.6 million students apply, but only one percent of them are accepted as National Merit Finalists. Jacob and Marta will now compete for 7,500 scholarships worth more than $33 million, according to a news release.

Students qualify for the National Merit program by earning top scores on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which they take during their junior year of high school.

The highest scoring entrants from each state are named semifinalists.

To be considered for a National Merit Scholarship, semifinalists must advance to finalist standing in the competition by writing an essay, obtaining letters of recommendation, and demonstrating high academic performance.

Winners will be announced beginning in April.

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