In late October, 1.5 million students across the country entered the National Merit Scholarship Program, an academic competition for recognition and scholarships which began in 1955.
High school students enter the National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the Preliminary SAT, the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, as a junior. At FMHS, sophomores and juniors take the same PSAT test.
“The PSAT test is basically two things,” English teacher and sponsor of the PSAT team Sandra Mattox said. “It’s a practice test for the SAT and a qualifying test for the National Merit Scholarship Program.”
Juniors who take the PSAT test and score high enough become National Merit Semifinalists. To become a National Merit Finalist, a student must score comparably on the SAT, maintain high grades in all classes and receive a letter of recommendation from a counselor.
Results for this year’s juniors were received this past December. Two students from FMHS received perfect scores, and 44 students qualified for scholarships. In April of junior year, high scores are announced, and students who do not become National Merit Scholarship Finalists become Commended Scholars.
A group of some colleges are automatically notified of all students who qualify as semifinalists. Scholarship opportunities are possible for all students who advance into the semifinalists and finalists stage.
In every high school across the Lewisville district, a PSAT team welcomes all sophomores who receive a high score on their PSAT test, ranging from 160-165. The PSAT team prepares students for the SAT/NMSQT test that will be taken in the junior year of high school.
The team at Flower Mound High School meets for a week in the summer for further instructions and strategies to help improve testing scores, then takes practice tests every Saturday for a month.
“The PSAT team is basically a class to prepare sophomores for the PSAT test and the SAT test,” Mattox said. “It’s a team because we do some extra things with them. They take four practice PSAT tests on Saturdays. Most students who make it to the semifinals were a part of the PSAT team.”
In February, seniors who qualified last year as semifinalists will receive their National Finalist results.
