Tabor City tribune. (Tabor City, N.C.) 1946-1991, 1959-04-22


at 300 am. Tuesday. April %
The test is the first step In
competition for Merit Scholar
ships provided by some 90 CORP
orations. foundations. profession.
al societies and individuals. as
well as by the National Merit
Scholarship Corporation itself.
Some SIS million In Meri,
SCHOLARSHIPS has been awarded in
the first four years of the pro.
gram.
The number of scholarships
awarded In any year depend.
upon the extent of sponsor parti.
cipation. The basic continuing
program Is for one million dol.
lars a year for ten annual pro-
grams). In addition. sponsor par
ticipation this year is expected
to add about two million dollars
more in sponsored Merit Soho
larships. 1t is estimated that vari-
Gus outside-the-program sources
will increase the present amounts
offered to high scoring students
by several million dollars.
The National Merit Scholar
ship Qualifying Test is a three
hour measure of educational de-
vclopment and college aptitude.
Emphasis is on broad intellec-
tual SkillS, and on understanding
and ability to use what has been
learned. rather than on sheer
knowledge of facts.
Some 10000 Semifinalists. the
highest scorers in each state,
will be named early next fall.
Each Semifinalist will take a
second examination. Those who
repeat their high performance
on the second examination will
become Finalists. Further eva
luation of their grades. citizen
ship, and extra curricular
achievements will follow and
the winners will be announced
in the Spring of 1860.
The test results will be report
ed to all participating schools be-
fore the beginning of the senior
year, in time for use by seniors
and their class advisors. The
scores may also be used in many
high schools to help students
make decisions about college
and the most appropriate courses
to major in. Many students
throughout the country who do
not expect to win have register
cd for the test. in order to learn
more about their individual
strengths and weaknesses.
DR.. John NJ. Stalnaker. Presi-
dent of the National Merit Scho-
larship Corporation. recently
cautioned that there are many
reasons why test results cannot
be used to evaluate school per-
Torrance. The distribution of the
population throughout the state,
the size of the school. the native
intelligence of its top students,
the percentage of students TAX
ing the test. the nature of the
community where the school is
located, the purpose Of Ethe
school. and many other factors
having nothing to do with the
total effectiveness of the school
can influence its number of Fina-
lists.
The test results will. however
enable students as individuals
to compare their scores with
other studetns across the nation.
The test has been constructed
by Science Research Associates
of Chicago. and will also be
scored and reported by the test
ing agency.
Each Merit Scholarship car
ries a stipend based on the need
of each individual winner. and
is renewable annually without
further competitive examination.
The average stipend in past
years has been s700 per year.
The minimum award in the 1889
60 Program will be 500 a year
and a maximum will be $500 a
year.
The names of all Finalists will
be sent to colleges and universit-
les and other scholarship organi-
throughout the country.
In this way many non-winning
Finalists are helped in winning
scholarships awarded directly by
colleges and other organizations.
About 700 Merit Scholars.
winners of the 1958-59 competi-
ton. will be named on April 20.