National Merit Scholar - Beatrice Gantzer

National Merit Scholars

MINNEAPOLIS – A Minneapolis Public Schools student on May 25 was named National Merit Scholar. Beatrice R. Gantzer of Southwest High School was among 2,900 students nationwide honored with National Merit Scholarships sponsored by colleges and universities. Officials of each sponsor college selected their scholarship winners from among finalists in the 2011 National Merit Scholarship Program who plan to attend their institution.

Gantzer was selected to receive the National Merit Washington University in St. Louis Scholarship. This award provides between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution financing the scholarship. Another group of scholars will be announced in July, bringing the total number of college-sponsored Merit Scholarship recipients in the 2011 competition to approximately 4,800.

Gantzer and college-sponsored Merit Scholarship winners announced today are a part of the distinguished group of about 8,300 high school seniors of 2011 who will receive National Merit Scholarships for college undergraduate study worth nearly $35 million. Announced earlier this spring were winners of two other types of National Merit Scholarships – corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards and National Merit $2500 Scholarships.

About 1.5 million juniors in 22,000 high schools entered the 2011 National Merit Scholarship competition when they took the 2009 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. In September 2010, some 16,000 semifinalists were designated on a state representational basis. Semifinalists were the highest-scoring program entrants in each state and represented less than one percent of a state’s seniors.

To be considered for a National Merit Scholarship, semifinalists submitted a scholarship application that included presenting an outstanding academic record, being endorsed and recommended by a school official and earning SAT scores that confirmed the qualifying test performance. Semifinalists also wrote an essay and provided information about extracurricular activities, awards and leadership positions. In total, 15,000 semifinalists met finalist requirements and more than half of the finalists will be Merit Scholarship winners in 2011. Winners are the finalist candidates judged to have the strongest combination of academic skills and achievements, extracurricular accomplishments and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

Established in 1955 to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) is a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance. The majority of National Merit Scholarships offered each year are made possible by the support of approximately 440 independent corporate and college sponsors. These sponsors join NMSC in its efforts to enhance educational opportunities for America’s scholastically talented youth and to encourage the pursuit of academic excellence.