Local students compete for merit scholarship

Nine Columbia County high-school students were among the names of about 16,000 semifinalists in the 49th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

They have the opportunity to continue in the competition for 8,000 scholarships, worth a combined $32 million, that will be offered next spring. To continue, the semifinalists must fulfill several requirements.

Finalists from Martinez are Alexander Crean and William Wilson, of Augusta Preparatory Day School.

Finalists from Evans are Garret Thompson of Evans High School; Katherine Kulovitz of Greenbrier High School; and Adam Colligan, Tariq Fischer, Tyler Pratt, Arjun Sebastian and David Szerlip, all of Lakeside High School.

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The annual Merit Scholarship competition is conducted by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, a nonprofit organization. About 500 businesses and educational institutions help support the scholarship program.

More than 1.3 million juniors in the nation's 21,000 high schools entered the 2004 National Merit Program by taking the 2002 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which serves as an initial screen of program entrants. The pool of semifinalists represents less than 1 percent of senior test-takers.

To become a finalist, semifinalists must have a strong record of academic performance, a recommendation by their principal and a high score on the SAT. They also must submit a detailed application with a essay about themselves and information about their participation in community and leadership activities.