McDowell High School Student Named as National Merit Semifinalist
McDowell High School is pleased to honor a semifinalist in the 2007 National Merit Scholarship Program. Matthew Mingey qualified as a semifinalist by taking the 2005 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).
He was chosen from more than 1.4 million juniors in nearly 21,000 U.S. high schools. Matthew hopes to move on to become a finalist in the program. As a finalist, he would be eligible to compete for 8,200 Merit Scholarship awards, collectively worth $33 million, that will be offered next spring. To become a finalist, he must have a record of very high academic performance, be endorsed and recommended by the McDowell High School principal, and earn SAT scores that confirm his earlier qualifying test performance. The judges will also look at a self-descriptive essay and information about the semifinalists’ participation and leadership in school and community activities.
“We are proud of Matthew for achieving this outstanding honor,” said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Dean Maynard. “He is dedicated to the highest level of learning and in turn has been rewarded for his efforts.”
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) is a privately financed not-for-profit corporation, founded in 1955 to conduct the annual Merit Scholarship competition. The independent sponsor organization and institutions that support scholarships awarded through the National Merit Program share NMSC’s goals of honoring scholastically able young people and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.
