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Graham High School senior named National Merit Semifinalist

Sat, 09/24/2016 - 6:00 am
news5@grahamleader.com
GHS Senior Smith Graham was named as one of about 16,000 Semifinalists in the current National Merit Scholarship program after receiving a qualifying score on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship qualifying test. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, Graham must fulfill requirements to advance to the finalist level , where he would then go on to compete for some 7,500 National Merit Scholarships, worth about $33 million. The nationwide pool of semifinalists represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors. "I didn't do much to prepare besides taking the test my sophomore year," Graham said. About 90 percent of semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and about half of those will go on to win a scholarship and earn the "Merit Scholar" title. "I feel that my odds of becoming a finalist are very good because most semifinalists do make it to that level," he said. Graham also said that his parents, Win and Suzy Graham, are proud and encouraging. "My dad is staying on me to make sure I complete my application and my mom congratulated me immediately," Graham said. In addition to becoming a semifinalist in the 2017 NMSP, Graham also earned an Advanced Placement Scholar with Distinction award for his outstanding achievement on AP exams. This award is given to students by the College Board's AP Program for receiving at least an average score of 3.5 on all exams taken, and scoring at least a 3 on five or more of those exams. "In my 18 years [of being in this field] I have never had a student win this [AP Scholar] award or take as many AP classes and exams and perform as well as he has," said GHS Freshman/Senior Counselor Molly Morris. "He is a very exceptional student and I'm happy that he is receiving the recognition he deserves," Morris said. Along with being heavily involved in academics, Graham also plays football, basketball, tennis, and throws discus. Both Graham and GHS will be notified in early February 2017 if he is named a finalist. If he were to win a scholarship, he said he will put it toward continuing his education at the University of Texas next fall, where he plans to pursue a honors degree in business.