Davidson prepares for college as National Merit Finalist
Sports reporter
Not everybody is named a National Merit Finalist.
In fact according to the National Merit Scholarship Program, less than one percent of graduating seniors each year are named to the prestigious group.
Marion High School senior Rachel Davidson is one of those students, and along with Robert Jost of Hillsboro, is one of only two in Marion County and the only from MHS in recent memory according to counselor Phoebe Janzen.
"It's nice knowing you have studied all these years and now have something to show for it," Davidson said.
Something else nice for Davidson is the burden of choosing a school has been lifted off her shoulders. This past week she sent her application notifying the University of Notre Dame she will accept its offer to attend the school this fall.
Davidson had looked at a few schools in the state, but ultimately decided on the gold and green.
"I pretty much had my mind set on Notre Dame," she said.
It was a safe bet she would be accepted to the same school her sister Sarah attends after recording a perfect reading score on the ACT and 33 out of 36 overall.
"It's kind of nice to get that sibling rivalry going again," Davidson said.
Finalist
Fifteen thousand may sound like a large number, but not when compared to 1.3 million.
The latter amount is how many 2003 graduating high school seniors in the nation took the PSAT/NMSQT and met other requirements to be considered a finalist. The statistics for current finalists are not yet available, but students who took the tests in 2003 were 2005 recipients.
The list is then narrowed to 50,000 of the top test-takers out of the original 1.3 million. A group of 34,000 will not be considered finalists, but will receive letters of commendation for the achievements.
The remaining 16,000 students are considered semi-finalists and will receive scholarship applications. In February, 15,000 of those students are named finalists, the group Davidson has qualified for this year.
The Merit Scholarship winners are chosen from this group, and even if Davidson isn't chosen, the fact she has made it this far has looked good in the eyes of Notre Dame.
"It helped quite a bit," Davidson said.
Notre Dame
The quiet and humble Davidson isn't really gloating with the success, but does realize hard work pays off.
She did admit at first she didn't even know what the award was, but now is glad to have it.
"It was a lot of work," she said of her high school career.
Now that she has been accepted by the college of her choice, it's just a matter of picking a major. At first it was English, but now she is thinking psychology.
"Who knows, it will probably change before I leave," she said with a laugh.
Nevertheless she will be attending one of the best schools in the nation, and Janzen said the nomination is good for Davidson and the school.
"It just doesn't happen that often," Janzen said. "You're talking about the brightest of the brightest."
Davidson is the daughter of Greg and Rose Davidson of Marion.
