Three Loyola Students Named National Merit® Finalists

Three Loyola College Prep students move to the next level in the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program and were announced as Finalists in the competition. Maeve Chmielewski, Cooper DeFatta, and Austen Simpson are now eligible to compete for nearly 7,250 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $28 million that will be offered this spring. 

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.

“We are incredibly proud of Maeve, Cooper, and Austen,” said Loyola principal John LeBlanc. “They continue to impress our students, teachers, and parents with their achievements, intelligence, and abilities. We wish them luck in this final round of competition for such a distinguished honor.” 

All winners of Merit Scholarship awards (Merit Scholar® designees) are chosen from the Finalist group based on their abilities, skills, and accomplishments—without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference. A variety of information is available for NMSC to evaluate: The Finalist's academic record, information about the school's curriculum and grading system, PSAT/NMSQT Selection Index score, the high school official's written recommendation, information about the student's activities and leadership, and the Finalist's own essay.

High school juniors entered the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2021 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. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.