MMI senior Darren Zheng was selected as a finalist in the National Merit Scholarship Program.

Zheng is the son of Hongzhi and De Zheng of Jim Thorpe.

Zheng was among just 15,000 students out of the 50,000 high scorers who entered the program to be named finalists.

He is now in the running to be one of the 7,600 students who will receive a Merit Scholarship award.

Merit Scholarship award winners are chosen from the finalist group based on their abilities, skills, and accomplishments.

The evaluation criteria includes the finalist’s academic record, information about the school’s curriculum and grading system, Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test Selection Index score, the high school official’s written recommendation, information about the student’s activities and leadership, and the finalist’s own essay.

The National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships that began in 1955.

Approximately 1.5 million high school students enter the program each year.

The awards are distributed by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, whose mission is to identify and honor academically talented U.S. high school students, stimulate increased support for their education, and provide efficient and effective program management for organizations who wish to sponsor college undergraduate scholarships.

Since its founding, NMSC has recognized over 3.3 million students and provided some 449,000 scholarships worth over $1.8 billion.