TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Donovan Catholic student has been named a semifinalist in the National Merit Scholarship Program, program officials announced.

Emily C. Osterman, a senior from Toms River, is one of about 400 students in New Jersey and one of 16,000 nationwide who have qualified for the scholarship program based on their scores on the PSAT last year as juniors.

About 1.6 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools took the PSAT last year, and the national pool of semifinalists represents less than 1 percent of all U.S. high school seniors. The semifinalists are the students with the highest PSAT scores in each state, with the number of semifinalists in each state proportional to the state's percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.

Semifinalists next apply for the finalist level of the competition, with the hope of receiving a National Merit scholarship worth $2,500 next spring. Semifinals have to submit a detailed scholarship application that includes information about their academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received.

"A semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student's earlier performance on the qualifying test," the organization said in a news release. Of the 16,000 semifinalists, about 15,000 will become finalists, and among them, roughly 7,500 will receive some form of scholarship through the program.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation is a nonprofit organization that operates without government assistance. It was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program.



Scholarships are underwritten by the foundation with its own funds and by approximately 420 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," the organization said in a news release.