Nearly 4.3 million high school students took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test or the PSAT 10 in the 2016-2017 school year, according to College Board.
Prospective college students enter the National Merit Scholarship Program, conducted by the nonprofit National Merit Scholarship Corp., by taking the PSAT/NMSQT. But only 7,500 are selected as Merit Scholarship winners. While earning the title of National Merit Scholar and an accompanying scholarship prize is a rare honor, it’s not impossible.
Here are steps you can take to win National Merit Scholarship money as well as additional scholarship opportunities.
[See 10 Sites to Kick Off Your Scholarship Search.]
Score within the top 1 percent of students on the PSAT. To be eligible for National Merit Scholarships, you must take the PSAT/NMSQT in October of your junior year — if completing high school in four years — and be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, among other requirements.
You also have to get a top score on the test. Around 16,000 high scorers, representing less than 1 percent of the nation’s high school graduating seniors, will qualify as semifinalists. The scholarship organization looks at scores on a state-by-state basis, so students across the country have a fair shot at winning.
You might wonder what scores you need to make the top percentile, but the cutoff changes each year. For more insight, you can call NMSC at 847-866-5100 to learn the previous year’s cutoff in your state.
But achieving a top score on the PSAT is only the tip of the iceberg for winning a National Merit Scholarship.
Put together an outstanding application. Taking the PSAT is the first step toward winning a scholarship. You should receive your score about two months later, but you will have to wait almost a full year before learning the next steps.
In September of your senior year, you will find out if you qualified as a semifinalist. If you’re named a semifinalist, you will go on to apply for finalist status. The process is similar to applying to college. You will need to submit your academic record; a recommendation, typically from your school principal; and an essay.
Only a small percentage of students earn finalist status and win a scholarship, so make sure to put time and thought into your application materials. You’ll need an outstanding application to make it to the final round.
Score highly on the SAT. Along with putting together an exceptional application, you’ll also need to take the SAT and send your scores to the scholarship organization.
Students who applied for the 2018 program had to submit their SAT scores by Dec. 31, 2017. So you typically have to take the SAT at least a month before to fulfill this requirement.
The scholarship organization doesn’t ask for specific numbers, but it does say your SAT score should be high enough to confirm your PSAT/NMSQT performance.
[Read: Ultimate Guide: How to Find and Secure Scholarships for College.]
Review the list of corporate and college sponsors. If your sights are set on the National Merit $2,500 Scholarship, you don’t have to do anything else. All finalists are considered for this award.
But you might have to take extra steps to be considered for corporate- or college-sponsored merit scholarships.
Corporate sponsors look for children of employees, residents of an eligible community or students planning to major or work in certain fields. College-sponsored scholarships usually go to students who inform NMSC of their first-choice school and their plan to enroll there.
Make sure to peruse the list of participating corporate sponsors and colleges along with their eligibility requirements so you don’t miss out on potential scholarship money.
[Read: 7 Tips to Fund College With Scholarships.]
Don’t forget about other scholarship opportunities. Your final step in the scholarship application process is to wait for notification from NMSC. The organization notifies about 15,000 students in February that they have advanced to finalist standing.
In March, the program awards 7,500 finalists with National Merit $2,500 Scholarships, corporate-sponsored scholarships or college-sponsored scholarships. An additional 1,200 students receive special scholarships from participating companies.
All of this might sound like a lot of work and waiting, but earning a National Merit distinction is an impressive honor.
Since these scholarships are extremely competitive, you shouldn’t put all of your eggs in the same basket. Throughout high school, you can also spend time applying for other scholarships. There are thousands of opportunities across the country, which you can easily find with scholarship search tools.
While applying can be time-consuming, the rewards are worth the effort. The more money you win, the less you will have to pay in college tuition or borrow in student loans.
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How You Can Win a National Merit Scholarship originally appeared on usnews.com
