Nick Barna National Merit Scholarship Award Winner 2018
National Merit® $2500 Scholarship Winners
(Evanston, Illinois) May 8, 2018, National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced this year’s National Merit $2500 Scholarship winners. The 2,500 Merit Scholar designees were chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 outstanding Finalists in the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program.
Cazenovia CSD Congratulates Nick Barna on his selection as a $2500 scholarship winner and applaud his efforts over his career as a graduating high school student. Nick has shined not only in the classroom over his time at Cazenovia, but has also been active in student activities and has demonstrated leadership by his example. Nick will attend Dartmouth College in the fall of 2018.
Nick’s research on lithium ion batteries in Dr. Ian Hosein’s lab at Syracuse University Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering is currently under review for publication in the journal American Chemical Society: Macromolecules. He is the captain of the Cazenovia Mock Trial team, captain of Varsity Cross Country, and is trumpet section leader and first chair trumpet in the wind ensemble and jazz band. He won the Harvard Book Award as a junior. He volunteers with Project Café and the Project Café mentorship program.
Nick is the son of Jim and Jen Barna.
National Merit $2500 Scholarship winners are the Finalists in each state judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies. The number of winners named in each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the nation’s graduating high school seniors.
These Scholars were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors, who appraised a substantial amount of information submitted by both the Finalists and their high schools: the academic record, including difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned; scores from two standardized tests; contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essay written by the Finalist; and a recommendation written by a high school official.
NMSC finances most of these single-payment National Merit $2500 Scholarships. Corporations and company foundations that sponsor awards through NMSC also help underwrite these scholarships with grants they provide in lieu of paying administrative fees. Scholars may use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university.
2018 National Merit Scholarship Competition
This year’s National Merit Scholarship Program began in October 2016 when over 1.6 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. Last fall, the highest-scoring participants in each state, representing less than one percent of the nation’s high school seniors, were named Semifinalists on a state-representational basis. Only these 16,000 Semifinalists had an opportunity to continue in the competition.
From the Semifinalist group, some 15,000 students met the very high academic standards and other requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. By the conclusion of the 2018 program, about 7,500 Finalists will have earned the “Merit Scholar” title and received a total of over $31 million in college scholarships.
NMSC, a not-for-profit corporation that operates without government assistance, was founded in 1955 specifically to conduct the National Merit Scholarship Program. The majority of scholarships offered each year are underwritten by approximately 410 independent corporate and college sponsors that share NMSC’s goals of honoring scholastically talented youth and encouraging academic excellence at all levels of education.
