MMI senior Nathaniel Neidlinger was selected as a Semifinalist in the National Merit Scholarship Program. Neidlinger is the son of Amanda Neidlinger ‘98 of Weatherly.

Neidlinger was one of 16,000 students out of the over 1.3 million students who entered the 69^th annual National Merit Scholarship Program to be named Semifinalist.  He will go on to compete for some 7,140 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $28 million that will be offered in the spring.

Semifinalists qualify by taking the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) which served as an initial screen of program entrants. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements including maintaining an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed or recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT and ACT scores that confirm the student’s early performance on the qualifying test. About 95 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and approximately half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar Title.

NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 320 business organizations and higher education institutions that share NMSC’s goals of honoring the nation’s scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.

Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2024. Winners of 2024 will be announced beginning in April. Scholarship recipients will join nearly 375,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar Title.