The National Merit Scholarship Corporation is a non for profit corporation that gives out Scholarships to students who receive a high score on the PSAT test taken in the fall of junior year. NMSC’s goals are to identify and honor academically talented U. S. high school students and to support education.

According to National Merit Scholarship Corporation, “ The National Merit Scholarship Program has an academic competition for recognition and scholarships that began in 1955.”

Furthermore, Glenbard South’s own senior, Numaan Mahmood has been selected as a National Merit Semifinalist. When asked how Numaan felt, he replied, “It was exciting. I didn’t really expect it, so it definitely was a pleasant surprise. My counselor called me down to his office to tell me the good news.”

Mahmood has brought much pride to Glenbard South as he brings positive recognition on a national letter.

Additionally, the Scholarship is for talented high school students who achieve a high score of around 216 out of 240 on the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test taken in the fall of a student’s junior year.

Out of the 1.5 million students that take the test, 50,000 students qualify for the National Merit Scholarship Program. Additionally, the scholarship program then funnels the group to 16,000 by selecting students with the highest PSAT from each state.

These students later become National Merit Semifinalists. Finally, the program picks the scholarship winners by evaluating finalists’ academic records, information about the school’s curricula and grading system, two sets of test scores, the high school official’s written recommendation, information about the student’s activities and leadership and the finalists’ own essay.