On May 13, National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced this year’s National Merit $2,500 Scholarship winners, and Tennessee High School’s Matthew Manno was the only winner east of Knoxville among 45 high school seniors from Tennessee.
The 2,500 Merit Scholar designees were chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 outstanding Finalists in the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program. Ryan Lilly of Tennessee High School was also among the 15,000 national Finalists of the program.
“We are incredibly proud of Matthew and his achievements in and out of the classroom at Tennessee High School,” said Principal Kim Kirk. “I can’t wait to see what his future holds as he continues his academic career at Georgia Tech with a scholarship from their department of Materials Science and Engineering. We wish him and all our seniors the very best!”
National Merit $2,500 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 were 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.