Osbourn Student is National Merit Scholarship Finalist
An Osbourn High School student has been named a finalist in the annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) notified Sophia Xiao, a senior at OHS, in February of her achievement. She is among 15,000 student finalists nationwide who remain in competition for 7,400 prestigious National Merit Scholarships worth more than $32 million.
Xiao was named a semifinalists based on PSAT scores taken in the fall of 2014. The nationwide pool of semifinalists, representing less than one percent of high school seniors, included the highest scoring entrants in each state. To become finalists, students must demonstrate a high record of academic performance in college preparatory course work and earn a recommendation from a high school official, according to a press release issued by NMSC.
About half of the finalists will win a scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title. Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous
college studies. Scholarship winners will be announced beginning in April.
Additionally, two Osbourn students received a letter of Commendation form the National Merits Scholarship Program for outstanding performance on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test in 2014.