Nine seniors at Friendswood High School have been named semifinalists in the 2010 National Merit Scholarship competition. The nine will be honored at the Oct. 13 meeting of the Friendswood ISD School Board.
            The nine include Adam W. Coleman, Elizabeth P. Conger, Jonathan D. Miller, Del A. Murphy, Bryan K. Nguyen, Brandon W. Taylor, Hayden J. Thurman, Andrew J. Wiley and Zachary A. Wimer.

          The names of approximately 16,000 semifinalists in the 55th annual National Merit Scholarship Program were announced recently by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC).
            These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for approximately 8,200 National Merit Scholarships, worth more than $36 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 90 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalists 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 500 business organizations and higher education institutions that share NMSC’s goals of honoring the nation’s scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.
            More than 1.5 million juniors in about 22,000 high schools entered the 2010 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2008 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). This served as the initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of semifinalists, which represents less than one percent of US 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.