Muncie Central Senior Named National Merit Scholarship® Finalist

Senior Cory Cooper receives a Certificate of Merit from Principal Chris Walker for qualifying as a Merit Scholarship® Finalist. Photo provided.Senior Cory Cooper receives a Certificate of Merit from Principal Chris Walker for qualifying as a Merit Scholarship® Finalist. Photo provided.

By: Ana Pichardo—

 Muncie, IN— Muncie Central senior Cory Cooper has been named a Finalist in the National Merit Scholarship® Program. Cooper advanced from a group of 16,000 Semifinalists, and he will be considered for a National Merit Scholarship® to be offered in 2017.

Cooper has waited several months and has jumped through quite a few hurdles to reach this point in the competition. First, he qualified as a Semifinalist by earning one of the highest Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®) scores in Indiana. For a chance at becoming a Finalist, Cooper had to submit scholarship application materials and maintain high academic standards in all of his high school course work.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) also required that his SAT® score reflect his outstanding performance on the PSAT®.

From that point, Cooper will be evaluated on a variety of information, such as his academic record, Muncie Central’s curricula and grading system, the PSAT® and SAT® scores, a written recommendation from a Muncie Central official, Cooper’s extracurricular activities and leadership qualities, as well as his application essay.

In March, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) began mailing scholarship offers to 7,500 Merit Scholarship® winners, chosen from the group of more than 15,000 Finalists. According to a letter to Muncie Central, the NMSC will make four major news media announcements naming the Merit Scholar® designees in April, May, June, and July.

Cooper plans to study Aerospace Engineering, at Purdue University.

For more information on the National Merit Scholarship® Program, see the NMSC website: http://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/interior.aspx?sid=1758&gid=2&pgid=424

 

The Muncie Community Schools (MCS) serve approximately 6000 students from Muncie and the surrounding area. MCS provides a range of diverse opportunities for children as well as adult basic education. For more information about MCS events, programs or services, please contact Ana Pichardo, Director of Communications at 765-747-5210 or apichardo@muncieschools.org. Follow MCS on Twitter@MuncieSchools and like them on Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/MCS1Official.