In 2013, the criteria for selecting National Merit Scholars included high scores on the PSAT/NMSQT exam, academic performance, a recommendation from a school official, an essay, and participation in extracurricular activities.
An ACT score of 36 would generally be held in higher regard than the distinction of being a National Merit Scholar. The 36 represents a perfect score in every section of one of the two major American standardized tests, whereas the National Merit Scholarship Competition is based on the PSAT. There are significantly more National Merit Scholars than there are people with perfect ACT scores.
A national merit scholar is student who has first taken the PSAT in spring of their junior year and scored high enough to qualify for a semifinalist position the national merit competition. Next, those semifinalists are asked to complete an application with 2 letters of recommendation, transcripts, SAT scores, a list of extracurricular activities, honors, and write an essay. From there, the application is reviewed. Of those semifinalists, a portion of students are selected for the finalist level, and from the finalists, the National Merit Corporation chooses students to become National Merit Scholars. National Merit Scholars are given $2500 by the corporation and also may qualify for a variety of school and corporate sponsored scholarships.
For 2012, there are. I know of several, but the school has not yet listed their names anywhere.
National Merit Scholarship Program was created in 1955.
Stephenie Meyer won the National Merit Scholarship in 1992.
St. John's School, which has an average of 130 high schoolars per grade, had 47 seminfinalist in 2009.
Medal of Merit for National Defence was created on 1966-04-21.
Medal of Merit of the National People's Army was created in 1956.
Medal of Merit of the National People's Army ended in 1990.
The number of 2013 National Merit Semifinalists varied by state.
The proposed research project addresses the NSF Merit Review Criteria of Intellectual Merit by contributing new knowledge or understanding to the field of study. It also addresses the Broader Impacts criteria by considering the potential broader societal impacts and benefits of the research, such as educational outreach, diversity, and societal relevance.
The intellectual merit in the context of NSF funding criteria refers to the importance of the proposed research project in advancing knowledge and understanding in a particular field. It is a key factor considered by the NSF when evaluating grant proposals, as it ensures that the research is innovative, rigorous, and has the potential to make significant contributions to the scientific community.