All 17 of Choate’s sixth former National Merit Scholarship Program Semifinalists were informed of their Finalist status in early February. Not only has every semifinalist advanced to the next level, but also the number of semifinalists is six greater than last year’s. Each finalist has a chance to become a winner of the Merit Scholarship Award.

According to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation’s (NMSC) official website, an extensive process is in place to choose the 8,200 winners. The point of having this award, Mike Bozzi says, is that “It encourages people to really try hard.”

It begins when over 1.4 million juniors across the country take the 2006 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). A small percentage of the students who perform in the top percentile are selected as semifinalists.

Each semifinalist then has the opportunity to become a Finalist. To do this, a student must have an exemplary academic record, a recommendation from the headmaster, and excellent SAT scores.

Another requirement is submitting the scholarship application, which each semifinalist must complete with the help of his college advisor. This includes a 500-word self-descriptive essay, and a detailed account of his involvement in community activities and leadership activities.

15,000 semifinalists nationwide move on to the Finalist level of the competition. From this pool, the NMSC will choose to award about half with a Merit Scholarship.

This could be done in one of three ways. There are 2,500 National Merit Scholarships given out based on state-representation. Around 300 business organizations supply some 1,100 corporate scholarships for Finalists who are children of employees or residents of an area where the company is located. There are also about 4,600 scholarships provided by some 200 colleges for Finalists who plan to attend their institution. The National Merit Scholarship process will end on April 16th, when the first winners are notified of their achievement.

Each finalist in the class of 2008 has the chance to be rewarded with money and prestige. Janet Li ’08 says, “It is a really great program, because it gives smart students across the US the chance to win some scholarships.” Steven Chen ’08 also notes, “I was very happy when I found out that I made Finalist, but I know that actually winning is a lot harder.”

The United States Presidential Scholars Program is a federal-run program established in 1964 to “recognize and honor some of our Nation’s most distinguished graduating high school seniors,” according to their official website. This year seven Choate students have been named Semifinalists.

Each year one male and one female senior from each state are chosen to participate. There are two components of the Presidential Scholar program: academic or artistic achievement.

The first is by general academic excellence; this is what the seven members of Choate’s class of 2008 have been chosen for. This program is invitation-only and therefore cannot be directly applied to.

Students must score exceptionally well on either the SAT or the ACT tests. From these scores 2,600 candidates are taken. After review around 20 females and 20 males from each state are selected and sent an application by the end of January.

Students who register for the Arts Recognition and Talent Search are first selected because of their competence in the arts. The National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts will then nominate 50 students from the arts program that meet the Presidential Scholars standards. The candidacy materials are sent to them as well, a formal invitation to apply to the program. Any of these 50 students who submit their application immediately advance to the semifinalist level.

The academic candidates, however, go through a second qualification round before this step. A committee reviews each application and nominates 500 semifinalists based on their leadership roles, service activities, academic success, personality, and essay.

The Commission on Presidential Scholars chooses final winners in April, who can include up to 121 academic scholars and 20 arts scholars can. The winners are celebrated on National Recognition Week in June, when they take an expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C.

Sixth former Chris Douglas says, “It’s an honor just to be in the running. I’m just crossing my fingers, hoping it turns out well, and waiting until I hear back.”

In the past, Choate had one Presidential Scholar every decade, most recently Jeff Rosen ’07. Results for the 2008 Semifinalist nominations will be available in early April.