September 11, 2024
Rutherford County Schools
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation released its list of 16,000 semifinalists in the 70th annual National Merit Scholarship Program, and 16 seniors from Rutherford County Schools earned a spot on the coveted list.
The list of winners was announced today, and Rutherford County Schools will publish a short profile of each honoree at a later date.
The list of Rutherford County semifinalists are:
Central Magnet School
- Carlos Aguiar Alfonzo
- Jacob Anderson
- Wyatt Brown
- Charlotte Cushingham
- Rebecca Jerkins
- Ian Kelley
- Evan Moody
- Michael Pawlowski
- Rylee Pelham
- Miles Ritter
- Ryan Russell
- Sophia Stringfield
- Samantha Warren
- Summer Yun
- Megan Zhao
Stewarts Creek High School
- Jacob S. Jones
From the announcement:
These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 6,870 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million that will be offered next spring. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. About 95 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and approximately half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.
NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 280 business organizations, higher education institutions, and individual donors that share NMSC’s goals of honoring the nation’s scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.
Over 1.3 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2023 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 over 16,000 Semifinalists, more than 15,000 are expected to advance to the Finalist level, and in February they will be notified of this 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.