“I was very surprised to hear I was the only student to qualify. It really puts into perspective how special this honor is and how truly blessed I am,” he said.
Bobby was also only one of 15,000 seniors in the United States to be designated as a finalist for 2020.
“I feel very blessed to be able to receive this honor. It has been a goal of mine since freshman year and to have it finally come to fruition is fulfilling,” he said.
Emmanuel Christian congratulated Bobby in a Facebook post on qualifying as a semifinalist, which represents less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors, and then becoming a finalist.
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“Because of Bobby’s outstanding academic record, participation in school and community activities, leadership abilities, and honors received, Bobby was chosen as a Finalist for 2020,” the school wrote. “Congratulations, Bobby, on this tremendous achievement!! We’re so proud of you!”
One of the requirements for students to participate in the National Merit Scholarship (NMS) Program is to take the SAT/NMS Qualifying Test as a junior.
“The top 1% of those test-takers in each state become semifinalists. After becoming a semifinalist, I had to submit an application including my high school transcript, ACT score, extracurriculars, letters of recommendation, and a personal essay to become a finalist,” Bobby said.
Bobby’s mother said he also took the Preliminary SAT test his first two years of high school to practice for when he took it his junior year.
“He took the PSAT test both his freshman and sophomore years just for practice because he really wanted to do well when it counted in his junior year,” said Rebecca Peyton.
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Out of 1.6 million students who enter the program each year, 50,000 of them with the highest PSAT/NMSQT score qualify as a semifinalist, and then about 15,000 of them qualify as a finalist, according to the national merit website. High school principals are then notified and provided a Certificate of Merit to present to each finalist.
“We were very excited and happy for Bobby for this achievement because we knew how much it meant to him,” his mother said. “We are extremely proud of Bobby and appreciate his love for learning.”
Bobby will be attending The Ohio State University in the fall to study Actuarial Science.
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