2 Wauwatosa Students Semifinalists For National Merit Scholarships

WAUWATOSA, WI — Students from both Wauwatosa East and Wauwatosa West high schools are semifinalists for the National Merit Scholarship program.

About 1.6 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools took the PSAT last year, and the national pool of semifinalists represents less than 1 percent of all U.S. high school seniors. The semifinalists are the students with the highest PSAT scores in each state, with the number of semifinalists in each state proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.

Semifinals have to submit a detailed scholarship application that includes information about their academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received.

WAUWATOSA EAST H. S.
Conteh-Morgan, Clare E.

WAUWATOSA WEST H. S.
Poehls, Maria S.

"A semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test," the organization said in a news release.

Of the 16,000 semifinalists, about 15,000 will become finalists, and among them, roughly 7,500 will receive some form of scholarship through the program.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation is a nonprofit organization that operates without government assistance. It was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

Scholarships are underwritten by the foundation with its own funds and by approximately 420 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," the organization said in a news release.

Finalists are announced in February, and National Merit Scholars are announced beginning in April.

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