Thomas Jefferson seniors named National Merit Scholarship winners

(From Thomas Jefferson Independent Day School)

Congratulations to senior Aaron Wells for winning a National Merit Scholarships. 

According to the announcement from the National Merit Scholarship Program on June 6, Aaron is among approximately 3,500 National Merit winners whose awards are financed by colleges and universities. 

Each institution selected scholarship winners from among National Merit finalists. The awards provide thousands of dollars annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the sponsoring school.  

Aaron plans to attend Trinity University, a private liberal arts school in San Antonio, Texas. The announcement was published in yesterday’s Joplin Globe.

Lane Wilson was another TJ senior who was named a National Merit Scholarship winner in the program’s May 8 announcement. 

Lane and Aaron were named semifinalists in September, and were then selected as two of the approximately 15,000 finalists nationwide. 

 By the end of July, approximately 7,600 of those finalists will have received a National Merit scholarship. The semifinalists are students who scored in the Top 1% in the nation on the PSAT, and finalists were selected based on “academic performance that is consistently very high in all of grades 9 through 12.” 

 The program recognizes the top performing high school seniors in the nation, and earning a National Merit Scholarship means significant merit-based scholarship offers from a wide range of colleges and universities. Aaron and Lane join an elite group of people recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Program including Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts, Joseph Stiglitz, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Ben Bernanke.