Seniors Named National Merit Semifinalists

Matthew Everett and Jason Patterson among 16,000 nationwide semifinalists

Salesianum seniors Matthew C. Everett and Jason M. Patterson were named semifinalists in the 2008 National Merit Scholarship Program.

Both are eligible to be named National Merit Scholars when those awards are designated next year.

From more than 1.4 million students who entered the 2008 National Merit Scholarship Program, only about 16,000 were named Semifinalists. They were designated on a state representational basis, in proportion to each state’s percentage of the national total of high school graduating seniors. In order to advance in the competition and be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, a semifinalist had to become a finalist by fulfilling several requirements that included submitting a detailed scholarship application and presenting a record of very high academic performance. All winners of about 8,200 Merit Scholarship awards will be announced in the spring.