Five Horry County Schools’ students are among 158 high school seniors in South Carolina to be named semifinalists in the 53rd annual National Merit Scholarship Program.  They were among the 16,000 students to achieve the ranking nationwide, according to officials at the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

Semifinalists have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,200 Merit Scholarship awards, worth $34 million, that will be offered next spring. 

Local semifinalists are: Kimberly Snyder, Green Sea Floyds High School; Melissa Gasser, Carolina Forest High School; Meredith Sloan, Myrtle Beach High School; and Jessica Preslar and David Stone, Socastee High School.

Students entered the 2008 National Merit Program by taking the 2006 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation is a nonprofit organization established in 1955.  It is supported in part by approximately 500 business organizations and higher education institutions.