By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — Martha L. Hamlin of Presque Isle, who graduated Saturday from the Maine School of Science and Mathematics in Limestone, will be attending Northeastern University in Boston this fall thanks — in part — to being named a finalist in the 2011 National Merit Scholarship Program.
More than 2,900 winners of National Merit Scholarships financed by U.S. colleges and universities were announced last week by the National Merit Scholarship Corp. Officials of each sponsor college selected their scholarship winners from among the finalists who plan to attend their institution.
The National Merit Scholarship Program honors individual students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies.
“Ideally I’d like to work with artificial intelligence research and virtual reality, but since that’s sort of a niche field,” said Hamlin, “I’m also interested in designing video games.”
This year, 198 higher education institutions are underwriting Merit Scholarship awards through the National Merit Scholarship Program. Sponsor colleges and universities include 118 private and 80 public institutions located in 45 states and the District of Columbia.
College-sponsored Merit Scholarship winners are a part of the distinguished group of about 8,300 high school seniors of 2011 who will receive National Merit Scholarships for college undergraduate study worth nearly $35 million.
Hamlin said she found out this spring that she had been awarded Northeastern University’s Civic Engagement Program scholarship which is given to National Merit students.
“It’s a full tuition in the amount of $37,000 a year for four years with the understanding that you have to do 100 hours of community service each year,” she said. “From the National Merit Scholarship Corp. I also received a $1,000 per year stipend.
“I’m very thankful to the National Merit Scholarship Corp.,” said Hamlin. “I received the university’s Civic Engagement Program scholarship because I’m a finalist in the National Merit Scholarship Program. I don’t think I would have been able to go to Northeastern if I hadn’t gotten the scholarship. The corporation provides wonderful opportunities to kids and helps people afford to go to colleges.”
The college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution financing the scholarship. Another group of Scholars will be announced in July, bringing the total number of college-sponsored Merit Scholarship recipients in the 2011 competition to approximately 4,800.
About 1.5 million juniors in some 22,000 high schools entered the 2011 National Merit Scholarship competition when they took the 2009 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants. Last fall, some 16,000 semifinalists were named on a state representational basis, in numbers proportional to each state’s percentage of the nation’s high school graduating seniors. Semifinalists were the highest-scoring program entrants in each state and represented less than 1 percent of a state’s seniors.
To compete for Merit Scholarship awards, semifinalists had to advance to the finalist level of the competition by fulfilling additional requirements. Each semifinalist submitted a scholarship application that included presenting an outstanding academic record, being endorsed and recommended by a school official, and earning SAT scores that confirmed the qualifying test performance. The semifinalist also wrote an essay and provided information about extracurricular activities, awards, and leadership positions. From the semifinalist group, some 15,000 met requirements for finalist standing, and more than half of the finalists will be Merit Scholarship winners in 2011.
Hamlin has a friend currently attending Northeastern University who received the same scholarship she has received.
“She told me that since I was in the running for the National Merit Scholarship, I should apply to Northeastern because they have a good program,” said Hamlin. “I visited the school and really like it. It will be an interesting experience though because I’m very much an Aroostook County girl, so it will be different being in the city all the time, but there will be a lot of cultural opportunities, as well.”
Hamlin is the daughter of Greg and Louise Hamlin.
