Congratulations to senior Paul Bartolemea ’20, who has been honored as a finalist in the National Merit Scholarship Program. Of the 1.5 million high school juniors who took the preliminary PSAT exam, only 15,000 (~1%) are given this distinction as a National Merit Scholarship finalist.
Paul has been a member of Kellenberg Memorial since his time in the Bro. Joseph C. Fox Latin School. In his time at KMHS, Paul has been an active member of the National Honor Society, Science Olympiad (A team), Chamber Ensemble, Computer Club, Amateur Radio Club, and serves as a Community Marianist Leader.
From the NMSQT website:
To become a Finalist, the Semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the Semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. A Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT® or ACT® scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.
From the approximately 16,000 Semifinalists, about 15,000 are expected to advance to the Finalist level, and in February they will be notified of this designation. All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from this group of Finalists. Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference…
National Merit Scholarship winners of 2020 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July. These scholarship recipients will join more than 345,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.