A group of Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) recent graduates is about to start their college career with a well-deserved surprise. Six members of the Class of 2008 were just notified of additional financial assistance they have earned based on their high school academic performance. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced this week that six graduates received a college-sponsored scholarship. This latest group is in addition to the 11 other Gwinnett seniors that NMSC had rewarded earlier this summer. The Gwinnett recent graduates are part of a group of 2,800 students nationwide who have earned the honor.

The six scholarship winners represent three different Gwinnett high schools including Brookwood High, Mill Creek High, and Parkview High. They each have earned a scholarship worth between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution financing the scholarship. The student winners are:

·        Melinda R. Dolphyn – Mill Creek High  
        National Merit Georgia Institute of Technology Scholarship
        Probable career field: Medicine  

·        Kelsey K. Jordan – Parkview High  
        National Merit University of Georgia Scholarship
        Probable career field: Medicine  

·        David C. Kilgore – Brookwood High  
        National Merit Emory University Scholarship
        Probable career field: Applied Physics/Music

·        Grant J. McFerrin – Mill Creek High  
        National Merit Georgia Institute of Technology Scholarship
        Probable career field: Computer Engineering  

·        Blake A. Vander Wood – Brookwood High  
        National Merit Georgia Institute of Technology Scholarship
        Probable career field: Biomedical Engineering  

·        Kevin L. Rucker – Brookwood High  
        National Merit Georgia Institute of Technology Scholarship
        Probable career field: Electrical Engineering 

Each sponsoring college or university selected its scholarship winner from among the finalists in the 2008 National Merit Scholarship Program who plan to attend their institution. Nearly 200 higher education institutions sponsored scholarships through this program this year. 

More than 1.4 million students entered the competition last school year as juniors by taking the 2006 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as the initial screening for program entrants. The highest scoring participants in each state were then selected as semifinalists. 

Finalists were then selected by a review of the student’s outstanding academic record; scores from two standardized tests; an endorsement/recommendation by the school principal; and a self-descriptive essay and information about their participation and leadership in school and community activities.