Stepinac Senior Meets Rigorous Requirements to Enter 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program

David Lopez of New Rochelle, who will begin his senior year at Stepinac High School in September, was recently notified that he met the rigorous requirements to enter the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program competition.

The process of vying for the prestigious National Merit recognition and the opportunity to qualify for a scholarship began with Lopez taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

 Lopez, a member of Stepinac’s groundbreaking Honors Academy, was one of 50,000 highest scorers out of more than 1.3 million entrants nationwide who were selected to compete in the National Merit Scholarship Program.

 In September, more than two-thirds (about 34,000) will receive Letters of Commendation in recognition of their outstanding academic promise.  And 16,000 will advance to the next round as semifinalists.

The semifinalists will then vie for finalist ranking which will be announced in February.  According to the National Merit Scholarship website, www.natioalmerit.org, beginning in March and continuing through mid-June, about 7,500 finalists will receive a Merit Scholarship award and earn the coveted Merit Scholar® title.

The National Merit® Scholarship Program began in 1955 which, to date, has recognized more than 3.4 million students and provided more than 450,000 scholarships totaling more than $1.8 billion.

 Lopez joins Stepinac’s roster of academically top performing students who have been recognized by the esteemed organization.