Latest News
GSSM Celebrates 15 National Merit Finalists
February 14, 2008
Fifteen seniors at the South Carolina Governor's School for Science and Mathematics (GSSM) recently were named National Merit Finalists by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.
Those students include: Marielle Abalo, Due West; Kirsten Ayers, Hilton Head; Niles Brinton, Leesville; Paige Catotti, Aiken; Junda Chen, Fort Mill; Todd Eisenberger, Myrtle Beach; Ben Guyette, Due West; Nabiha Hossain, Rock Hill; Emrys McMahon, Pawleys Island; Elizabeth Rasheed, Pawleys Island; Luke Rogers, Bennettsville; Summer Shelnutt, Spartanburg; Hannah Van Patten, Columbia; Bella Wang, Florence; and Tim White, Hilton Head.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) released the names of 15,000 high school seniors who are Finalists in the 2008 National Merit Scholarship Program. Finalists will have the opportunity to compete for one of approximately 8,200 Merit Scholarships, worth more than $30 million, to be awarded this spring.
Nearly 1.4 million juniors from more than 20,000 high school entered the 2008 National Merit Program by taking the 2006 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMQT) that served as an initial screen of program entrants. Less than one percent of the nation's high school seniors were designated as Finalists.
Finalists who become National Merit Scholars will be selected based upon their potential for success in rigorous college studies and on professional evaluations of their academic abilities, skills and accomplishments. Merit Finalists are eligible for one of three types of scholarship. The NMSC awards 2,500 National Merit Scholarships at $2,500 each on a state representational basis. Some 400 corporations, companies and business organizations also support more than 1,100 Merit Scholarship awards for Finalists who meet their preferential criteria. Also, about 200 colleges and universities are expected to sponsor more than 4,600 Merit Scholarship awards. Winners of the college-sponsored awards will be chosen from among those Finalists who will attend the institution financing their scholarship.
NMSC will announce the 2008 Merit Scholarship recipients beginning in March 2008.
For more information on the South Carolina Governor's School for Science and Mathematics, please contact Jacqulyne Pouncey at the GSSM Foundation.
