The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Avon Lake seniors named National Merit Semifinalists
Two Avon Lake High School senior students have been named as National Merit Semifinalists from the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Corporation.
About 16,000 students across the country were named as semifinalists in the scholarship competition.
The Avon Lake students are Robert Nordman and Morgan Strauss.
Robert is the son of Rob and Heather Nordman. His school activities include:
Chess Club president, Math and Science Club, Photography Club, Academic Challenge, Drama Club. His potential college major is Computer Science. His colleges of interest include: Boston University, Illinois University, Brown University, The Ohio State University
Morgan is the son of Keith and Jeanette Strauss. His school activities include Model UN, Science Olympiad, Academic Challenge, National Honor Society, Math and Science Club. Her potential college major is Engineering, Biomedical engineering. His college of interest are Northwestern, Georgia Tech.
The National Merit program recognizes students with high PSAT scores and a strong academic record. About 1.5 million high school juniors across the country this year will compete for 7,400 scholarships — a total of $32 million. Semifinalists represent less than 1 percent of American high school seniors. About 15,000 students will advance to the finalist round in February, and learn if they won in the spring.
To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition. About 90 percent of the semi-finalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and about half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.
About 1.5 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, 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.