OHS Senior's Outstanding Achievements

Ossining High School senior Caleb Hersh has been named a semifinalist in the National Merit Scholarship Program. Less than 1% of the more than 1.5 million U.S. high school students who entered the competition by taking the Preliminary SAT in their junior year qualified as semifinalists. As such, Hersh is among the top students in the nation.

As a semifinalist, Hersh has the opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,300 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $32 million that will be offered next spring. Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to be considered for a Merit Scholarship award by advancing to the finalist level of the competition. More than half of the finalists will earn a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.

To become a finalist, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, “a student must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be
endorsed and recommended by the high school principal, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.” A semifinalist also must submit a detailed application, including an essay detailing the student’s involvement in school and community events and demonstrating leadership qualities.

Scholarship winners will be announced beginning in April and continuing through July 2013.