Senior Josh Patterson has been recognized as a National Merit Scholarship finalist. Josh is the son of Jeff and Dede Patterson.
In order to qualify as a National Merit finalist, individuals must take the PSAT test and score in the top one percent of the national scores. Kansas students traditionally do well on this test, Josh said.
The PSAT consists of about 60 questions related to math, reading and English. The highest score that can be achieved is 240; Josh scored a 215.
Josh took the PSAT as a junior while he attended Washburn Rural High School in Topeka.
Including Josh, there were five qualifiers from Washburn Rural High School, and eight total qualifiers in the Topeka area.
After taking the test and qualifying to be a semifinalist, applicants must send an application, copy of their school transcript and an essay.
There are 14,000 semifinalists out of 1.4 million applicants. Ninety percent of the semifinalists become finalists. Out of the finalists, 15 percent of them will receive scholarships. Recipients will be announced in March.
Preliminary SAT, better known as the PSAT, is a standardized test that provides first hand practice for the SAT Reasoning Test. It also gives participants a chance to enter National Merit Scholarship Corporation scholarship programs.
The PSAT measures critical reading skills, math problem-solving skills and writing skills (http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/psat/about.html).
Josh’s future plans include attending either Kansas University or Kansas State University and majoring in computer science.
KU has offered him a full academic scholarship if he decides to go to that university.