Brick High School Senior Named National Merit Semifinalist

BRICK, NJ — A Brick Township High School student has been named a semifinalist in the 2023 National Merit Scholarship program.

Phaedra L. Salerno was among the New Jersey students who have qualified for the next round of the national scholarship program, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced.

Salerno is considering studying chemistry in college, the program said.

More than 16,000 National Merit semifinalists are named nationwide, based on their scores on the PSAT. They are the top 1 percent of U.S. high school seniors and scored the highest on the test in their state.

To become a finalist for a National Merit Scholarshipo, the semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application that includes information about the student's academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. The student "must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test," the foundation says.

Finalists are announced in February, and those students become eligible for one of 2,500 National Merit $2,500 scholarships. In addtion there are about 950 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards and about 160 colleges and universities offer roughly 3,800 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for students who attend their colleges.