The National Merit Scholarship Program (NMSP) is a competition where students with the highest Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) score compete to be a finalist or semifinalist and achieve a scholarship that will provide you the availability to be noticed by colleges and universities all over the country.

One student at Fenton High recently achieved an NMSP, Caroline Weaver. Weaver had one of the top scores in the SATs leading her to an NMSP, along with becoming a finalist in the competition and being awarded a scholarship.  

Weaver’s goal was to get a scholarship, using Khan Academy to study the materials of the tests and YouTube videos that would walk her through the process of the SAT and the NMSP. She was ready for testing.

“I was walking into testing confident in my ability, although entering the testing room had me nervous,” Weaver said. “Being able to talk to other contestants made it better, although we didn’t talk about the context of the test we were able to relate to one another and joke around.”

Becoming a finalist was a big deal for Weaver. The night she found out about being a finalist, her family let her pick her favorite food for dinner.

“My family was really proud of me becoming a finalist, they knew how personal and how much of a goal it was for me to become a finalist and get a NMSP scholarship,” said Weaver. 

Weaver hopes to apply to universities to explore a career in science. 

“I am planning on applying to a few colleges like New York University (NYU), Michigan and Michigan State,” Weaver said. “They all have good programs for neuroscience, which is a career I want to explore.”

Weaver still needs to send her application to be a finalist in order to receive her scholarship and award, but she hopes her hard work will help her reach future goals.