National Recognition

Being recognized, at any level, by the National Merit Scholarship Program^® is a high achievement for both the student and their school. They represent the top performing students in the nation. Hoban is proud to have a long-standing tradition of naming students recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Program. In the last five years, 45 students have been recognized, more than any other school in Summit County.

 

NATIONAL MERIT THROUGH THE YEARS
Class of 2008	Class of 2009		Class of 2010	Class of 2011
Finalists: Erin Armao Marjorie Cantine Caroline Dzeba Adam Gale Joshua Schnitzler Victoria Stewart Commended Students: Courtney Chlebina Kathleen Davey Andrea Hinton Meagan McMahon Rebecca Miesle Maria Neugebauer Nicholas Reymann	Finalists: Terence M. Hillery Patrick J. Kramer Andrew D. Padula Christopher G. Sarkis Commended Students: Sarah Blinka Mike Horth Catherine Huff Ashley Markowski Evan Merle Charles Renner Ethan Scott Kyle Sokol Rachel Wischt		Finalists:   Vincent Burns Mary Dieglio Jake Frego Alexandra Kepler Janelle Stalter Commended Students:   Lawrence Anderle Eric Antonucci William Darby Shannon Davey Alec Droba Brian Gibbons Rachael Hershey Mackenzie Kaser Elizabeth Melhus Stephen Veillette National Achievement Outstanding Participant: Taylor Martin	Finalists: Sean Cody Justin Horning Commended Students: Jacob Belair Mark Frego Kevin Geary Nolan Habel Deanna Klettlinger Kathryn Savako
Class of 2012	Class of 2013		Class of 2014	Class of 2015
Finalists: Connor Lynch Ileana Horattas Lindsay Huth Jake Pelini Ryan Will Semifinalist: Brock Barber Commended Students: Julianna Blischak Kristin Brennan Katherine Caprez Abigail Dankoff Caren Dieglio Mary Stalter Kellie Tomin	Semifinalists: Sam Smartnick Tony Burns Lauren Whitehouse Matt Onders Commended Students: Katherine Geary James Marrter Andrew Udovich National Hispanic Recognition Outstanding Participant: Kristin Sanchez		Semifinalist: Malinda Baer Commended Students: Madalyn Beban Lucia Congeni Katherine Frego Ryan Kupcik Susan Stalter	Finalists: Anthony Incorvati Evan Nichols Anna Armao Commended Students: Matthew Rohrer Madison Hughes  Tess Davey Graham Onders National Achievement Outstanding Participant: Alexandria Jackson
Class of 2016	Class of 2017		Class of 2018	Class of 2019
Finalists: Marilyn Icsman Benjamin Sutter Chelsea Wein Semifinalist: Isabella Judge Commended Students: Joseph Brennan Will Freeman Madeline Grosklos Nicholas Lewis Michael Smith Josh Sukie Gabriella Wittbrod	Finalists: Bryce Dzubara Colin Fricker Carson Keenan Victoria Woodburn Commended Students: Mara Bahmer Dominic Congeni Andrew Hayes William Schell Luus Stricker Anthony Ursetti		Finalists: Luke Armao Jack Bahmer Joshua Parisi Michael Rinaldi Alison Ritenour Victor Vogt Commended Students: James Bowling Michael Davies Patrick Hanlon Sean Hayes Kathleen McMahon Jack Skinner Ryan Volcansek Chloe Weidrick	Finalist: Reese Marino Commended Students: Alexander F. Baumgartner Ian J. Doucet Jacob P. Dudek Lauren M. Fricker Joel T. Hottinger Corrina L. Mullins Kayla A. Mullins Andrew M. Pero Andrew F. Rinaldi
Class of 2020	Class of 2021		Class of 2022
Finalists: Michael Bowling Ayaka Coffman Patrick Sullivan Semifinalist: Christina Worcester Commended Students: Slade Brooks Xavier Dirker David Duryea Rebecca Kubick Grace Rossi	Finalists: Thomas Crowe Isabelle Hahn Alaina Lah Commended Students: Joshua Fenn Samuel Fess Jacob Juvan Owen Kovalik Jonathan Popa Grace Wyszynski		Scholarship Recipient: Stephen Matko Finalists: Sawyer Huckabee Stephen Matko Commended Students: Jude Yovichin

About the National Merit Scholarship Program

The National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships that began in 1955. According to their website, approximately 1.6 million high school students enter the program each year. 

Of the 1.6 million entrants, about 50,000 with the highest PSAT/NMSQT^® Selection Index scores qualify for recognition in the National Merit Scholarship Program. In September, Hoban is notified of the students who have qualified as either a Commended Student or Semifinalist. 

Commended Students

About 34,000 students receive Letters of Commendation in recognition of their outstanding academic promise. 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.

Semifinalists

Approximately 16,000 students qualify as Semifinalists. To ensure that academically talented young people from all parts of the United States are included in this talent pool, Semifinalists are designated on a state-representational basis. Semifinalists are the highest scoring entrants in each state. Qualifying scores vary from state to state and from year to year, but the scores of all Semifinalists are extremely high. NMSC provides scholarship application materials to Semifinalists through their high schools. To be considered for a National Merit^® Scholarship, Semifinalists must advance to Finalist standing in the competition by meeting high academic standards and all other requirements explained in the information provided to each Semifinalist. 

Finalists

Only about 15,000 Semifinalists advance to Finalist standing. High school principals are notified and provided with a Certificate of Merit to present to each Finalist. These students are qualified to potentially receive a Merit Scholarship award. 

SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

The 2,500 Merit Scholar designees are chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 outstanding Finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program. National Merit $2500 Scholarship winners are the Finalists in each state judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills and potential for success in rigorous college studies. The number of winners named in each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the nation’s graduating high school seniors. 

These Scholars are 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 level of subjects studied and grades earned; scores from the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®); contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essay written by the Finalist; and a recommendation written by a high school official.

The College Board recognized Hoban students in 2021 based on the results of the Advanced Placement Examinations. In May, 10 juniors and 21 seniors took advanced placement tests and earned an average score of 4.9.

The AP Scholars earned Grades of 3 or higher on 3 or more exams. The AP Scholars with Honor earned Grades of 3 or higher on 4 or more exams, with an average of 3.25 on all AP exams. The AP Scholars with Distinction earned Grades of 3 or higher on 5 or more exams, with an average of 3.5 on all AP exams.

• AP Scholars: Juniors Mia Gallagher, Andrew Hardman, Abigail Joyner, Sean Listerman, Stephen Matko, Madeline Mlachak, Eden Nichelson, Rachael Rice, Veronica Savitski and Peyton Tarle, and seniors Max Caiazza, Sara Cassady, Alex Dillon, Ava Gordon, Michael Johnson, Clara Krohn, Natalie Vrobel and Grace Wyszynski
   
• AP Scholars with Distinction: Seniors Aaron Bielecki, Thomas Crowe, Josh Fenn, Sam Fess, Isabelle Hahn, Jacob Juvan, Owen Kovalik, Alaina Lah and Jonathan Popa
   
• AP Scholars with Honor: Junior Sawyer Huckabee and seniors Simon Monsour, Luke Monteleone, Rebecca Vober and Alex Wong

Advanced Placement courses give students the chance to tackle college-level work while still in high school and earn college credit and placement. AP classes help students acquire the skills and habits needed to be successful in college. They help students improve writing skills, sharpen problem-solving abilities and develop time management skills, discipline and study habits. For more information about the College Board's AP Program, click HERE.