Three Casady Seniors Named National Merit Semifinalists

Senior Cyclones Graeme Jones, James Lowe, and Matthew McQuistion have been National Merit semifinalists by the National Merit® Scholarship Program. The National Merit® Scholarship Program "honors individual students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies."
“As a School we are proud to celebrate these students and their commitment to their academic studies,” Head of School Nathan L. Sheldon said. “To be recognized in this way is no small feat and shows our commitment to providing students environments to make the most of their academic studies. I am excited to see the future successes these students will achieve.”

The National Merit Scholarship Program began in 1955 as an academic competition for recognition and scholarships. High school students enter the National Merit Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®)—a test which serves as an initial screen of approximately 1.5 million juniors in 21,000 schools—and by meeting published program entry and participation requirements.

Graeme, James, and Matthew have an opportunity to continue further in the competition, which awards 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth about $33 million that will be offered in the spring of 2021. From the 16,000 semifinalists, about 15,000 are expected to advance to the Finalist level and will be notified of this advancement in February. 

All winners of Merit Scholarship® awards, who will be known as Merit Scholars, are chosen based on their abilities, skills, and accomplishments—without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference. As stated on the website, a variety of information is available for the "selectors" to evaluate each finalist including academic record, information about the school's curricula and grading system, two sets of test scores, the school official's written recommendation, information about the student's activities and leadership, and the finalist's own essay.
Back

View More News

Casady School is an independent, co-educational, college preparatory, Episcopal day school serving students in pre-k-12. Educating Mind, Body, and Spirit.
Casady School is a PreK-12, independent, college preparatory Episcopal day school committed to deeper-level learning. Casady School welcomes a student body that reflects the diversity of the world around us and therefore does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, nationality, or ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, athletics, and other school-administered programs generally accorded or made available to students at the School.