News & Announcements

Two TFS seniors named National Merit Scholarship semi-finalists

Two Tallulah Falls School seniors are semifinalists in the annual National Merit Scholarship program. 

Twin brothers Jingan "Jerry" D. Sang and Jingyi "Jason" D. Sang of Shanghai, China, were included among 16,000 semifinalists in the 67th annual academic competition, which honors individual students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

The pair will now advance to compete for 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth close to $30 million that will be offered in the Spring of 2022. 

“Jerry and Jason are truly inspiring and prove time and time again they are committed to excellence in every endeavor,” said School Counselor Michelle Barron. “They consistently demonstrate the kind of leadership and character that exemplify the TFS mission.”

About 95 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and approximately half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar® title. 

High school juniors entered the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2020 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), an initial screen of program entrants. 

The nationwide pool of semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state's percentage of the national total of graduating seniors. 

To become a finalist, the semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application. They provide information about the semifinalist's academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment and honors and awards received. A semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT® or ACT® scores that confirm the student's earlier performance on the qualifying test. 

National Merit Scholarship winners of 2022 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July. Every finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $2,500 Scholarships awarded on a state-representational basis. These scholarship recipients will join more than 362,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.