Two Framingham High Students Earn $2,500 National Merit Scholarships

Framingham MA

11 May, 2022

5:30 AM

Description

FRAMINGHAM, MA - Two Framingham High School seniors won $2,500 scholarships from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, the organization announced Wednesday. Joshua Samuel Ginzburg and Lucas Fernando Gustafson are receiving the scholarships. Ginzburg is planning for a career in physics, while Gustafson has selected political science as a probable career field. The 2,500 Merit Scholar designees were chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 outstanding finalists in the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program. National Merit $2500 Scholarship winners are the finalists in each state judged to havethe strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies. The number of winners named in each state is proportional to the state's percentage of the nation's graduating high school seniors. These scholars were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and highschool counselors, who appraised a substantial amount of information submitted by both thefinalists and their high schools: the academic record, including difficulty level of subjects studiedand grades earned; scores from the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test(PSAT/NMSQT®); contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essaywritten by the finalist; and a recommendation written by a high school official.This is the second announcement of winners in the 2022 National Merit ScholarshipProgram. On April 27, about 1,000 recipients of corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awardswere named, including Arnav D. Singh of Framingham. The Framingham resident won a National Merit Scholarship funded by AbbVie, a leading global biopharmaceutical company established in 2013. On June 1 and July 11, some 4,000 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship winners will be announced. By the conclusion of this year's competition, about 7,500 academic champions will have won National Merit Scholarships worth approximately $28 million. NMSC finances most of these single-payment National Merit $2,500 scholarships.Corporations and company foundations that sponsor awards through NMSC also help underwritethese scholarships with grants they provide in lieu of paying administrative fees. Scholars mayuse their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university. This year's National Merit Scholarship Program began in October 2020 when high schooljuniors took the PSAT/NMSQT, which served as an initial screen of program entrants. Last fall,the highest-scoring participants in each state, representing less than one percent of the nation'shigh school seniors, were named semifinalists on a state-representational basis. More than 16,000 semifinalists had an opportunity to continue in the competition. From the semifinalist group, over 15,000 students met the very high academic standardsand other requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition. By the conclusion ofthe 2022 program, about 7,500 finalists will have earned the "Merit Scholar" title and received atotal of nearly $28 million in college scholarships. NMSC, a not-for-profit corporation that operates without government assistance, wasfounded in 1955 specifically to conduct the National Merit Scholarship Program. The majorityof scholarships offered each year are underwritten by approximately 400 independent corporateand college sponsors that share NMSC's goals of honoring scholastically talented youth andencouraging academic excellence at all levels of education.