Congratulations to Grace Reed on being selected as a 2022 National Merit Finalist.
Reed, a senior at El Dorado High School, is the daughter of Jason and Patti Reed. She plans to attend the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Throughout her high school career, Reed has focused on her studies and emphasized the growth she has experienced as a student over any accolades she has earned. Although Reed is not a huge fan of the spotlight, she did take a few moments to chat with us about her future plans and her time at EHS.
What do you plan to study at the University of Arkansas?
“At the moment I'm considering political science, sociology, and urban planning with an emphasis on sustainability. It's a bit of a mixed bag, but they all center around how people interact with each other and their environment. There's a good chance that I'll double major, as I'm going into it with the advantage of AP college hours.”
What subject do you think prepares you the most for life after high school? Why?
“I believe that school subjects are what we make of them. Physics and math can teach problem-solving and symbolic logic, and language courses give us a framework through which we can interact with the world. While no one subject is more important than another, I think that history and social studies classes most directly prepare us for life after high school. I think that forward progress starts with knowing where we've come from, how we got there, and how to interact with the people around us.”
How did being a student at EHS help you prepare to become a National Merit Semifinalist?
“I wouldn't be where I am today without the amazing teachers and peer groups I've found at EHS. Outside of teaching me how to think about the world complexly, they've invariably supported me when I needed it the most.”
What will you miss the most after you graduate from EHS?
“I'll undoubtedly miss the consistency of a high school routine: my hiding places in the library and tomato soup days in the lunch line and the parking space I inherited from my older brother. Most of all, though, I'll miss the people here. You guys are a part of who I am, and I couldn't be more grateful for it.”
Grace Reed, EHS Class of 2022
Reed is approximately one of 15,000 Finalists in the 67th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to compete for roughly 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $30 million this spring. Earning a National Merit Scholarship earns a Finalist the title of Merit Scholar. NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 400 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.
High school juniors entered the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2020 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), 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. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.
To become a Finalist, the Semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the Semifinalist’s 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® or ACT® scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.
All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from this group of Finalists. 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.
Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered this spring. Every Finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit® $2500 Scholarships that will be awarded on a state representational basis. About 1,000 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 220 corporations and business organizations for Finalists who meet their specified criteria, such as children of the grantor’s employees or residents of communities where sponsor plants or offices are located. In addition, about 180 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 4,000 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for Finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.
National Merit Scholarship winners of 2022 will be announced in four nationwide news
releases beginning in April and concluding in July. These scholarship recipients will join more than 362,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.
Caution: Using numbers of Semifinalists to compare high schools, educational systems, or states will result in erroneous conclusions. The National Merit® Scholarship Program honors individual students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies. The program does not measure the quality or effectiveness of education within a school, system, or state. For more information about the competition, please visit www.nationalmerit.org.