The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) named senior Jacob Blitz the sole Whitman recipient of the $2,500 National Merit Scholarship May 24.

Approximately 1.5 million high school juniors take the PSAT every October, including those at Whitman, but only 1 percent qualify as National Merit semifinalists.

This year, seniors needed to score at least a 221 out of 240 on the test to qualify for semifinalist status, although the required score changes every year. Semifinalists may apply for finalist status by submitting an application including their high school transcript, SAT scores, information regarding leadership roles, and a personal essay.

“The application process wasn’t too rigorous–it was for the finalist stage, which 15K out of 16K semifinalists get to,” Blitz said.

Receiving the exclusive status meant more to Blitz than the scholarship itself, Blitz said.

“I think the proudest part for me was getting the more advanced status,” Blitz said.

Fortunately, the college he will be attending next year offers additional scholarships to National Merit Scholars, Blitz said.

“University of Chicago gives its own scholarship to anyone who gets the National Merit Scholarship, so I’m extra lucky,” Blitz said.

This year, eight other Whitman seniors were named National Merit finalists: Rian Adamian, Olivia Blanchard, Jacob Blitz, Thomas Buarque De Macedo, Jesse Cao, Benjamin Gersch, Alan Li, and Elana Shaw. Senior William Arnesen was also a semifinalist.

“We have had as many as 22 national merit semifinalists and this year it was a low year, we only had nine,” counselor Frances Landau said.

Last year, Whitman had two winners of the $2,500 scholarship and in 2012 there were three. The decrease in the number of Whitman students may be related to the increasing number of students studying for the ACT instead of the SAT, Landau said.

“I wonder if too many of our kids are preparing for the ACT and not the SAT because it is based on performance on the PSAT,” counselor Frances Landau said.

Though Blitz is happy with the recognition, he is not sure how he was selected from the Whitman finalists to receive the scholarship.

“I’m pleasantly bewildered as to how I got it,” Blitz said.