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Greenville Business Magazine

10 GSSM Students Named National Merit Semifinalists

Sep 27, 2021 10:36AM ● By David Dykes

Ten students from the SC Governor’s School for Science + Mathematics (GSSM) are among the 16,000 semifinalists in the 67th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

The academically accomplished students are now eligible for continued competition in the program, which awards National Merit Scholarships worth more than $30 million each spring.

GSSM's 2022 National Merit semifinalists are: 
  • Martin Castellanos-Cubides from Horry County
  • Ben Charest from Florence County
  • Benjamin Chauhan from Richland County
  • Sanjeev Chauhan from Richland County
  • Carson Dodge from Lancaster County
  • Jasmine Hagerty from Richland County
  • Maxwell Hill from Oconee County
  • Elise Lanahan from Greenville County
  • Hayden Roof from Lexington County
  • Will Walker from Florence County.
High school juniors 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 one 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.

To become a finalist, the semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received.

A semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.

From the approximately 16,000 semifinalists, about 15,000 are expected to advance to the finalist level, and in February they will be notified of that designation.

All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from this group of finalists. 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.

Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2022. Every finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $2500 Scholarships that will be awarded on a state-representational basis.

About 1,000 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 220 corporations and business organizations for finalists who meet their specified criteria, such as children of the grantor’s employees or residents of communities where sponsor plants or offices are located.

In addition, about 180 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 4,000 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.

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

The scholarship recipients will join more than 362,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title. For more information, go to http://www.nationalmerit.org.