SENIORS NAMED NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP SEMIFINALISTS

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September 21, 2021

For information on enrollment and registration at Notre Dame, please visit the admissions section of our website here.

The National Merit Scholarship Program honors individual students who show academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

Notre Dame Preparatory School seniors Jaimie Krankel and Maria VanDieren were named this month as semifinalists in the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program.

Krankel and VanDieren now have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $30 million in total that will be offered next spring. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition.

In commenting on the announcement from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, Notre Dame Prep Director of Counseling Vlado Salic said he was elated by the news.

"These kids worked very hard and I'm extremely proud of what they've accomplished," he said. "I would also like to thank the counselors who helped them along the way during their application process."

More than 90 percent of NMSC semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and more than half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title. 

NMSC is a not-for-profit organization that was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 440 business organizations and higher education institutions that share NMSC’s goals of honoring the nation’s scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.

The National Merit Scholarship Program honors individual students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies. For more information about the competition, visit www.nationalmerit.org.
 
More than 1.5 million juniors from nearly 21,000 high schools entered the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2020 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of semifinalists, representing less than 1 percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest scoring entrants in each state. The number of semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.
 
Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference.

National Merit Scholarship winners in the 2022 program will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July.

For information on enrollment and registration at Notre Dame, please visit the admissions section of our website here.

Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org

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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. Notre Dame Preparatory School enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower schools enroll students in pre-kindergarten through grade eight. All three schools are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the National Association of Independent Schools. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school’s home page at www.ndpma.org.