Great Valley, Malvern Prep Students Named National Merit Scholars

MALVERN, PA – The Great Valley School District and the Malvern Preparatory School have cause to celebrate. Today, one Great Valley High School student and one Malvern Prep were announced as National Merit Scholars.

Jesse W. Xu, of Paoli, who attends Great Valley HS earned a $2,500 scholarship after working through the rigorous National Merit Scholarship program.

Xu's probable career field is biological engineering.

Marc Nowlan, of Chester Springs and attends Malvern Prep, also won a $2,500 scholarship.

Nowlan's probable career field is business administration.

To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition.

About 90 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and about half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title, according to a prepared statement.

More than 1.6 million students were considered for the contest when they took the PSATs in October 2015 as juniors.

Winners are selected purely on merit, without consideration of their family financial circumstances, college choice, major, or career plans.

Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 420 business organizations and higher education institutions, according to the news release.

With reporting by Justin Heinze

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