Seniors are National Merit finalists

Last updated Mar 04, 2008 12:0pm0

Joseph Duerrmeyer count

Brian Greaney and Rachel Sims are National Merit Scholarship Finalists.

Two Sisters High School 2008 graduating seniors have been named National Merit Scholar Finalists. Rachel Sims and Brian Greaney are members of the elite group of less than 1 percent of high school seniors nationwide to receive this recognition from the National Merit Scholarship Program.

Administered by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), the college scholarship competition initially judges scores students receive after taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Approximately 1.4 million students nationwide took the test with Sims and Greaney in 2006, and both scored in the plus 99th percentile.

Sims told The Nugget that the honor will provide her with opportunities to receive scholarships that might not otherwise be there.

"I'm hoping it will help me to get scholarship money for college. That would be really nice," she said.

Although Sims has not yet made a definitive decision, today her two top college choices are Reed College in Portland and St. John's College in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

"They're both liberal arts colleges and private schools. They're pretty small. You get more time with teachers and discussion with other class members," she said.

For Greaney, the recognition is proving a huge asset. He has already been offered more than one full-ride scholarship.

"I got one from Oklahoma and one from the University of Texas, Dallas, and also the University of Dayton offered me a really good scholarship just based on the award. They don't know much else about me," he said. "For me really the best thing about it, I had taken some extra time to study for the test, is just all the work I had done for school. It was cool to have some kind of a tangible benefit, a nice award, to show for the work that I had done. It's pretty rare. I don't think many kids get it."

Greaney, who wants to study biology and later go to medical school to become a family doctor, told The Nugget that he has also been accepted to the University of Tulane where he has been offered a full-ride scholarship should he decide to enroll. He also has the option of going to Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

"I'll get money based on the National Merit Scholarship. They have a scholarship just for those people," he said.

To make his decision even more complex, Greaney has been accepted at the University of Notre Dame.

"They haven't come out with what kind of financial aid I'll get," he said. In the next breath he told The Nugget, "I'm waiting to hear from Georgetown, University of Virginia, MIT and Fordham (the Jesuit University of New York)."

Sisters produces academic aces

Two Sisters High School Seniors, Rachel Sims and Brian Greaney, are finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program.

The college scholarship competition is initially judged by scores students receive after taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Administered by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), the scholarship program has been in existence since 1955.

In 2005 some 1.3 million entrants participated in the competition. The figure rose to about 1.4 million in 2006, the year both Sims and Greaney took the test (see related story, page 1).

Of the 1.4 million nationwide who took the test in 2006, slightly more than 50,000 qualified for special recognition. Of that 50,000, some 34,000 were deemed Commended Scholars. Sisters High School senior Dane Moorehead was honored as one of these Commended Scholars. In accord with the competition's guidelines, Commended Scholars do not advance any further in the competition nor do they have the opportunity to receive scholarships from the NMSC.

The remaining 16,000 plus contestants, including Sims and Greaney, became semifinalists in the competition.

More than 90 percent of these semifinalists, again including Sims and Greaney, next moved on to finalist status in the competition.

In general, the progression to becoming a finalist is based on the submission of an application and a student's SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) scores. The application outlines the student's high school courses, as well extracurricular and volunteer activities. A copy of the student's transcripts along with a recommendation from the student's principal are also included. The applicant must additionally pen a 500-word personal statement.

"The personal information provided is used later in the process to determine the award of scholarships," states NMSC.

Of the approximate 14,500 finalists nationwide, some 8,000 will receive merit awards and about 2,500 will be awarded, on a state-by-state basis, $2,500 National Merit Scholarships from the NMSC; students may use the scholarships to continue their education at colleges or universities in the United States.