Students from Tuxedo and Warwick are among 16,000 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists

Students from Tuxedo and Warwick are among the 16,000 semifinalists in the 63rd annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $32 million that will be offered next spring.
The local students are:
• Edwin A. Ramos-Vazquez, a student at George F. Baker High School in Tuxedo; and
• Tobias J. Park, a home-schooled student in Warwick.
The National Merit Scholarship Program honors individual students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies. The program does not measure the quality or effectiveness of education within a school, system or state.
Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2018:
• Every finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $2,500 Scholarships that will be awarded on a state-representational basis.
• About 1,000 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 230 corporations and business organizations for finalists who meet their specified criteria, such as children of the grantor’s employees or residents of communities where sponsor plants or offices are located.
• In addition, about 190 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 4,000 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.
National Merit Scholarship winners of 2018 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July.