BECAHI Semifinalist in 2020 National Merit® Scholarship Program
Principal Holly L. DeNofa of Bethlehem Catholic High School (BECAHI) announced today that Mary Frances Scheidel, Class of 2020, has been named a Semifinalist among 16,000 students in the 65th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Scheidel will continue in the competition for some 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $31 million that will be offered next spring. DeNofa stated, “We are both blessed and proud to have Mary Frances moving forward in the competition. She is a perfect model of our mission based in faith, learning, compassion, and integrity.”
Over 1.5 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2018 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®). The national pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. From the approximately 16,000 Semifinalists, about 15,000 are expected to advance to the Finalist level, to be determined in February.
According to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) “designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies.” 2020 designees will be announced in nationwide news releases next spring and summer. Recipients will join more than 345,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.
About BECAHI
In its 9th decade, BECAHI has graduated men and women to become prominent citizens of the community and the Church. The school’s commitment to excellence is modeled in challenging academics and competitive athletics, retreat programs and community service, extra-curricular activities, and care for the student body. BECAHI empowers students to live their faith, embrace learning, serve with compassion, and embody integrity.
About NMSC
A not-for-profit, NMSC operates without government assistance and was established in 1955 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.
