From left, front row, Annie Thrash and Maggie Parsley; back row, Lily Duplooy, Jennifer Wu and Hunter McVay
GPS was notified that five from the Class of 2021 are Semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program: Lily Duplooy, Hunter McVay, Maggie Parsley, Annie Thrash, and Jennifer Wu.
“We are very proud of these five students,” says Dr. Kirk Walker, GPS interim head of school. “They serve as outstanding representatives of our strong senior class.”
As juniors, the GPS Class of 2021 took the 2019 PSAT/NMSQT, which served as the initial screen of more than 1.5 million entrants to the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program. According to the program, the Selection Index scores of students who met program participation requirements were used to designate a pool of about 16,000 Semifinalists nationwide on a state allocation basis.
Semifinalists are the highest scorers in each of the 50 states and represent fewer than one percent of each state’s high school seniors.
Although qualifying scores of Semifinalists vary from one state to another, the scores of all Semifinalists are extremely high. As recognized academically talented high school seniors, these five GPS students will continue in the competition for National Merit Scholarships.
In February 2021, some 15,000 Semifinalists will be notified by mail at their home addresses that they have advanced to Finalist standing. High school principals are notified and provided with a Certificate of Merit to present to each Finalist. From March to mid-June, NMSC notifies approximately 7,600 Finalists at their home addresses that they have been selected to receive a Merit Scholarship award.