Four Bishop Hendricken seniors were recently awarded finalist status by the National Merit Scholarship Program and are now eligible to receive a National Merit Scholarship to be offered in 2017.

Declan Smith (Providence), Giancarlo Gentili (Cranston), Nicolas Berg (North Kingstown) and Frederick Choi (Warwick), all members of the Class of 2017, were notified they have advanced to the next round for consideration and are currently awaiting notification of scholarship offers.

“To be named a National Merit Scholarship Finalist is an impressive achievement, especially given the rigor and competition in our nations’ schools,” said Bishop Hendricken Principal, Jay Brennan ’72.  “Our four finalists’ stellar academic records, paired with their values, character and leadership are tremendous sources of pride for our school community,” he added.

The National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships. High school students enter the National Merit Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). Of the 1.5 million entrants, some 50,000 with the highest PSAT/NMSQT Selection Index scores qualify for recognition in the National Merit Scholarship Program. Sixteen thousand students, or approximately one-third of the high scorers, were notified in September that they qualified as Semifinalists. To ensure that academically talented young people from all parts of the United States are included in this talent pool, Semifinalists are designated on a state-representational basis. They are the highest scoring entrants in each state.

All winners of Merit Scholarship awards are chosen from the Finalist group based on their abilities, skills, and accomplishments—without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference. A variety of information is evaluated: The finalist's academic record, 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 Finalist's own essay.

A total of 7,400 Merit Scholarship winners will be chosen from a field of more than 15,000 finalists nationwide and will be notified by mail through June.