• SVHS senior one of four Wyoming students to earn the award
A Star Valley High School student has been named as a winner of the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program. Anna Altobell was one of four Wyoming students named to the list and will receive a $2,500 scholarship. Other winners included Reuben McGuire of Cheyenne Central and Gabriel Kantor and Benjamin Aepli of Jackson Hole High School.
On April 24, about 770 recipients of corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards were named, and on June 5 and July 15, some 3,600 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship winners will be announced. By the conclusion of this year’s competition, more than 6,870 academic champions will have won National Merit Scholarships worth approximately $26 million.
Anna, the daughter of Daisha and John Altobell, accepted a full ride scholarship to Yale as part of the National College Match Scholarship program in February. In an interview with SVI Media she stated that she is entering a Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology Major on a Pre-Med track and would like to pursue a Medical Doctorate.
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.
Donations made to NMSC’s President’s Fund also provide funding for National Merit $2500 Scholarships. Scholars may use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university.
• 2024 National Merit Scholarship Competition
This year’s National Merit Scholarship Program began in October 2022 when high school juniors took the 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. More than 16,000 Semifinalists had an opportunity to continue in the competition.
From the Semifinalist group, over 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 2024 program, more than 6,870 Finalists will have earned the “Merit Scholar” title and received a total of nearly $26 million in college scholarships.
NMSC, a not-for-profit organization 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 320 independent corporate and college sponsors that share NMSC’s goals of honoring scholastically talented youth and encouraging academic excellence at all levels of education.
