Margaret Sprigg-Dudley (Loveland) Semifinalist in the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program

Computer science…engineering…policy…business…communications…chemistry.  These are the fields of study five Cincinnati Area National Merit Semifinalists hope to enter when they attend college next year.  
 
“It’s no secret that Country Day is academically rigorous and that certainly helped me prepare for the test, but being such a small school we also get more individualized attention from our teachers and that is invaluable,” said Loveland resident Margaret Sprigg-Dudley ’22.  

Cincinnati Country Day School seniors Christian Fitzpatrick (Kenwood), Pooja Kantemneni (Mason), Victor Nica (Anderson), Alistair Norwood (Coldstream), and Margaret Sprigg-Dudley (Loveland) were recently named among the approximately 16,000 Semifinalists in the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program. 
 
These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for approximately 7,600 National Merit scholarships worth more than $31 million that will be offered in the spring.  
 
Christian Fitzpatrick ’22 added, “The quality of teachers is also really important. If you have quality teachers that go beyond the required material like we do here [at Country Day] I’m sure that increases the likelihood that you would be prepared for something like standardized testing.”  

Over 1.5 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. 

To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. Over 90% of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and about half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.