Tiverton High School Senior Named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist

Tiverton High School principal, Steven M. Fezette, announced on Thursday that senior Theodore Tsiongas has advanced as a Semifinalist in the 58th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

Tsiongas is one of 16,000 Semifinalists chosen from an original group of 1.5 million juniors from more than 22,000 high schools who entered the prestigious contest during the last school session. The names of the Semifinalists were announced recently in Evanston, IL, by officials of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

Tsiongas could continue in the competition for some 8,300 Merit Scholarship awards worth more than $32 million that will be offered next spring. To be considered for a merit scholarship award, semifinalists must advance to the finalist level of the competition by fulfilling several requirements. The nationwide pool of semifinalists represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors and includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state.

According the the National Merit Scholarship Corporation's website, 15,000 semifinalists will be notified in February of their advancement to the finalst level.

Beginning in March and continuing through June, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation notifies about 8,300 finalists they have been awarded a merit scholarship. Merit Scholarship awards are of three types:

• National Merit® $2,500 Scholarships
  Every Finalist competes for these single payment scholarships, which are awarded on a state representational basis. Winners are selected without consideration of family financial circumstances, college choice, or major and career plans.
• Corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards
  Corporate sponsors designate their awards for children of their employees or members, for residents of a community where a company has operations, or for Finalists with career plans the sponsor wishes to encourage. These scholarships may either be renewable for four years of undergraduate study or one-time awards.
• College-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards
  Officials of each sponsor college select winners of their awards from finalists who have been accepted for admission and have informed NMSC by the published deadlines that the sponsor college or university is their first choice. These awards are renewable for up to four years of undergraduate study. The published deadlines for reporting a sponsor college as first choice can be viewed on page 3 of the Requirements and Instructions for Semifinalists.