The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) has announced that Jordan Ladd, Antilles Class of 2013, is a member of a select group of high school seniors recognized for academic promise and distinguished performance. Accordingly, Jordan is a recipient of this year’s National Merit Scholarship. The scholarship designees were chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 outstanding finalists in the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program. Winners represent less than 1 percent of the initial pool of student entrants.
The scholars were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors, who appraised a substantial amount of information submitted by both the finalists and their high schools: the academic record, including difficulty of subjects studied and grades earned; scores from two standardized tests; contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essay written by the finalist; and a recommendation written by a high school official.
This year’s competition for National Merit Scholarships began in October 2011, when approximately 1.5 million juniors in some 22,000 high schools took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screening of program entrants. Last fall, the highest-scoring participants in each state (and territory), representing less than one percent of the nation’s high school seniors, were named semifinalists on a state/territorial representational basis. Only these 16,000 semifinalists had an opportunity to continue in the competition.
From the semifinalist group, 15,000 students met the very high academic standards and other requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition. By the conclusion of the 2013 program, about 8,000 finalists will have earned the “Merit Scholar” title and received a college scholarship.
Antilles School congratulates Jordan Ladd on a job well done. His leadership on campus, his service to others and his pursuit of excellence are inspiring and truly deserving of this prestigious award.
He is the son of Jim Ladd and Ariane Ladd.