Hoosick Falls High School senior Katelyn Harrison recently received a Letter of Commendation from the National Merit Scholarship Program for outstanding performance on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.
“To be recognized by a program of such high caliber is a significant achievement,” said Hoosick Falls Jr.-Sr. High School Principal Stacy Vadney. “The entire Hoosick Falls community can be proud of Katelyn’s incredible accomplishment. She exemplifies academic excellence and is an inspiration to her classmates.”
The daughter of Gina and William Harrison, Katelyn has attended Hoosick Falls schools since kindergarten.
Her favorite subject is math, and although she has applied to “a long list” of schools, Katelyn named Princeton, Dartmouth and RPI as her top three choices for college. She plans to study engineering and physics and is interested in pursuing a career in aerospace engineering.
The National Merit Scholarship Program recognized approximately 34,000 Commended Students this year for exceptional academic promise for placing among the top 5 percent of the more than 1.5 million students who participated in the 2014 competition by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test in 2012.
Commended Students are named on the basis of a nationally applied Selection Index score that may vary from year to year and is typically below the level required for participants to be named Semifinalists in their respective states. Although Commended Students do not continue in the competition for National Merit® Scholarships, some of these students do become candidates for special scholarships sponsored by corporations and businesses.