Mercy High School Senior Named National Merit Semifinalist

Emily Hall, a senior at Mercy High School, has been named a semifinalist in the 2014 National Merit Scholarship Program. 

She is one of approximately 16,000 students across the country to earn the distinction in the 59th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,000 National Merit Scholarships worth about $35 million that will be offered next spring. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship® award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition.

About 1.5 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2014 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2012 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, Emily along with a Mercy 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 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.

In announcing Emily’s selection as a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist, Sr. Mary A. McCarthy, President of Mercy High School stated, “We are proud of Emily and congratulate her on this prestigious honor.  She is an outstanding student and a great representative of Mercy’s excellent academic program.”

Emily, the daughter of Matthew and Elizabeth Hall of Clinton, was named a Governor’s Scholar in May, one of only thirty students in the state of Connecticut to receive this award.  Along with her course work at Mercy, she is taking a class at Wesleyan University this semester and Yale University next semester.  She is a two-year member of the Catherine McAuley Chapter of the National Honor Society where she serves as President.  Emily is an AP Scholar, captain of the Mock Trial Team and member of the Transfer Transition Team and Epoch (yearbook.)  This month she introduced a service fair at Mercy to connect students to service organizations of interest to them.  She was the recipient of the Harvard Book Award, Princeton Book Award and a delegate to Laurel’s Girl State.  In her community she is active in such causes as breast cancer and Parkinson’s disease research as well as religious education.