Congratulations to Phoenix Wade, Ryken Garren, and Nathaniel Curtis on winning 2023 National Merit Scholarships.  The National Merit Scholarhip program made the announcement this morning, and said that more than 3,000 students from across the U.S. earned college-sponsored National Merit Scholarships in this round.  These seniors were selected by officials of the sponsoring college or university from a pool of more than 15,000 finalists in the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program.  This group of students was judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college programs.  An additional group of scholars will be announced on July 10, according to a news release. That will bring the total number of college-sponsored Merit Scholarship recipients in the 2023 competition to just over 3,800.

See the Joplin Globe article here: https://www.joplinglobe.com/news/education/area-students-named-winners-of-national-merit-scholarships/article_09f39964-0493-11ee-acd8-b3e07e2db93c.html

Congratulations to Nico Carlson on winning a 2023 National Merit Scholarhip.  The National Merit Scholarhip program made the announcement May 10.  “Nico is one of 2,500 Merit Scholar designees to be selected from a pool of more than 15,000 finalists in the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program. This group of students was judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college programs,” the National Merit Scholarship Corp. said in announcing the winners.  “Scholarship winners were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors and were judged based on their academic record, including the difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned; scores from qualifying tests; contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essay; and a recommendation from an official at their school.”

See the Joplin Globe article here: https://www.joplinglobe.com/news/education/thomas-jefferson-student-wins-national-merit-scholarship/article_90511462-eeab-11ed-a157-7fbef7cd7dbe.html

The 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program began in October 2021 when students (as juniors) took a qualifying test that served as an initial screening of program entrants.  In September, the highest-scoring participants in each state, representing less than 1% of the nation’s high school seniors, were named semifinalists.  For TJ students were named semifinalists, and three were named National Merit Commended Scholars (representing the top 3% of high school seniors).  According to the National Merit program announcement, roughly 15,000 semifinalists met the requirements to be named finalists, and therefore eligible for National Merit Scholarships.

There were seven TJ seniors recognized by the National Merit Scholarship program in September, including Jay Ball, Eva Locher, and Samantha Seto as Commended Students, and Ryken Garren, Phoenix Wade, Nico Carlson, and Nathaniel Curtis as Semifinalists.  All four of TJ’s Semifinalists advanced to Finalist status, and now the National Merit Scholarship program has announced that all of them are winners of National Merit Scholarships. 

The National Merit Scholarship program means more than just a monetary scholarship and proof of college preparedness.  When high school seniors are named Semifinalists in the fall of their senior year, colleges and universities across the country actively recruit them and offer significant merit-based scholarship packages including full-ride (and more) awards.  See the screenshots and links below for several examples of these offers. 

TJ’s liberal arts, college prep program helps students be exceptionally well-prepared for college, and even students who transfer to TJ in their middle or high school years have achieved success.  Since TJ students are so well-prepared for college, they do well on college readiness exams including the ACT, PSAT, and SAT.  The average ACT score for the Class of 2023 (all students took the test) is 30!  These top scores translate to significant merit-based scholarship offers.  See the links and screenshots below for just four examples of public and private colleges and universities that award significant merit-based scholarships to students who are National Merit Scholarship semifinalists. 

University of Tulsa merit award package for National Merit Scholarship semifinalists: https://utulsa.edu/financial-aid/scholarships/nmsf/

Missouri S & T merit award package for National Merit Scholarship semifinalists: https://sfa.mst.edu/financial-aid/scholarships/undergraduate/national-merit-scholarship/

University of Oklahoma merit award package for National Merit Scholarship semifinalists: https://www.ou.edu/admissions/honors/scholarships/national-merit-semifinalist-scholarship

 University of Alabama merit award package for National Merit Scholarship finalists: https://scholarships.ua.edu/freshman/nationalscholars/