Five recent graduates of Fossil Ridge High School, two from Liberty Common School and one from Rocky Mountain High School were awarded National Merit scholarships, sponsors said in news releases.
Fossil Ridge’s Natalie Lin and Colin Magelky and Liberty Common’s Julian Thompson-Cox were named winners of National Merit Scholarships of $2,500 apiece that can be used at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced in a May 8 news release.
Liberty Common graduate Patrick Wrona, Rocky Mountain graduate Orion Rayburn and Fossil Ridge graduates Paul Mick, Sarah Wheeler and Grace Zhao were named winners of National Merit college-sponsored scholarships in a news release Wednesday. Those scholarships provide awards of $500 to $2,000, renewable annually for up to four years, toward the cost of their college educations.
Winners of the National Merit Scholarships are selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors based on their academic record, difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned; scores from the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test; contributions and leadership in school and community activities; a written essay and the recommendation of a high school official, the news release said. The number of winners in each state is proportional to that state’s percentage of the nation’s graduating high school seniors.
National Merit college-sponsored scholarship winners are selected by sponsoring colleges from the list of finalists who plan to attend their institutions. About 700 more winners will be announced in July.
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Mick and Zhao are receiving their scholarships from Purdue University in Indiana, where both plan to pursue degrees in computer engineering. Wheeler is receiving her scholarship from Brigham Young University in Utah, where she plans to pursue a degree in nursing.
Rayburn is receiving his scholarship from Colorado State University to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering, while Wrona is receiving his from the University of Alabama to pursue a degree in medicine.
Nationally, more than 6,870 students will receive one of the various National Merit Scholarships available this year for college undergraduate study, with a total value of nearly $26 million, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation said. Initial screening for the scholarships begins during students’ junior year of high school with the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. The highest-scoring students in each state, representing less than 1% of the students in their graduating class, are named semifinalists. Semifinalists must complete a detailed scholarship application, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the qualifying test performance to be eligible to be selected as a finalist.
Reporter Kelly Lyell covers education, breaking news, some sports and other topics of interest for the Coloradoan. Contact him at kellylyell@coloradoan.com,x.com/KellyLyell and facebook.com/KellyLyell.news.
