Mayfield High Seniors Named National Merit Scholarship Seminfinalists

Six seniors have been named among 16,000 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists. Margaret Cregan, Nicholas DiCesare, Evan Kominsky, Michael Kramer, Morgan McGrath and Steven Pham are among those competing for 8,300 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $34 million.

Semifinalists were named on the basis of scores on the 2010 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test taken by 1.5 million juniors. The 16,000 Semifinalists represent less than 1 percent of all U.S. high school seniors and are the highest-scoring entrants in each state.

About 15,000 of the Semifinalists are expected to advance when Finalists are named in February. Finalists will compete for one of 2,500 scholarships worth $2,500. They will be selected on the basis of skills, accomplishments and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

There are also 1,000 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarships awards available and about 4,800 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards.

National Merit Scholarship winners will be announced beginning in April.