Thomas County Central High School senior Justin Knapp has been announced as a Semifinalist in the 2015 National Merit Scholarship program.

About 1.4 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2015 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2013 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants.  Of those taking the test, approximately 16,000 were named as Semifinalists.

“It is such an honor to be able to advance to the next round of competition in this scholarship selection process,” Justin Knapp said.

To become a Finalist, Knapp will work with counselors and administrators at TCCHS to submit a detailed scholarship application, in which he provides information about his academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received.

Additionally, Knapp must maintain an outstanding academic record, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT scores that confirm his performance on the PSAT.            

“I believe Justin is an excellent candidate for the National Merit Scholarship program,” said Dr. Jim Rehberg, director of honors, gifted and accelerated instruction.  “He has already posted perfect scores on the graduation writing test and the math section of the SAT, so he is deserving of this recognition.”

About 15,000 Semifinalists are expected to advance to the Finalist level, and will be notified of their progress later in the year. All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from the group who advance as Finalists.