Wednesday, September 18, 2024–10:17 a.m.

-News Release-

Rome High School senior Karly Nguyen has been named a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist.

Nguyen is one of more than 16,000 semifinalists from across the country in the 70th National Merit Scholarship Program. Ngyuen continues in the competition for some 6,870 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million that will be offered next spring.

“We are very proud of Karly and all of her accomplishments,” Rome High Principal Parke Wilkinson said. “Her hard work and dedication are paying off, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds for her.”

Nguyen also recently earned AP Capstone Diploma and AP Scholar with Distinction honors from the College Board.

The National Merit Scholarship Program honors individual students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies. More than 1.3 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants.

The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. 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 or ACT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.

Roughly 15,000 semifinalists are expected to advance to the finalist level. Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference.

The 2025 National Merit Scholarship winners will be announced beginning in April and concluding in July.