Alec Foust, 2016 graduate of Marshall County High School, has been named a National Merit Finalist. Foust was the Valedictorian of this year’s graduating class and will attend the University of Kentucky.
Over 1.5 million juniors in some 22,000 high schools entered the 2016 National Merit Scholarship competition when they took the 2014 Preliminary sat/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (psat/nmsqt®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants.
In September 2015, some 16,000 Semifinalists were designated on a state-representational basis in numbers proportional to each state’s percentage of the national total of graduating high school seniors. Semifinalists were the highest-scoring program entrants in each state and represented less than one percent of the nation’s seniors.
To be considered for a National Merit Scholarship, Semifinalists had to fulfill requirements to advance to Finalist standing. Each Semifinalist was asked to complete a detailed scholarship application, which included writing an essay and providing information about extracurricular activities, awards, and leadership positions.
Semifinalists also had to have an outstanding academic record, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, and earn sat® scores that confirmed their qualifying test performance. From the Semifinalist group, some 15,000 met Finalist requirements.
By the conclusion of the 2016 competition, about 7,500 Finalists will have been selected to receive National Merit Scholarships totaling about $33 million. Winners are the Finalist candidates judged to have the strongest combination of academic skills and achievements, extracurricular accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies. nmsc, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 to conduct the National Merit Scholarship Program.
The majority of National Merit Scholarships offered each year are underwritten by some 440 independent corporate and college sponsors that support nmsc’s efforts to honor the nation’s scholastically talented youth and encourage academic excellence at all levels of education.