UPDATED – Abigail Kacmarynski Continues to Rack Up Awards: Named National Merit Finalist
September 2023
Last year over 1.3 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state.
To put this in perspective, sometimes schools as large as Iowa City High School only have one or two Semifinalists. This year, we have one too . . . Abby Kacmarynski. Congratulations to Abby on such an enormous accomplishment. Here is Abby (second from left) last spring with students from her Service And Learning Term trip to Costa Rica.
May 2024
Abby was recently named National Merit Finalist. Semifinalists must fulfill additional requirements and advance to the finalist level of the competition to be considered for a scholarship. Approximately 15,000 of the 16,000 Semifinalists advance to Finalist standing by submitting SAT scores that confirm the earlier PSAT/NMSQT performance, having an outstanding academic record, and being endorsed and recommended by a high school official. They must also submit an application that includes high school courses and grades, extracurricular and volunteer activities, and a self-descriptive essay. The information that is collected about each Semifinalist is used later in the process to choose scholarship winners. All Finalists receive a Certificate of Merit in recognition of their outstanding performance in the competition.
But that’s not all. At the end of her senior year at Hillcrest Academy, Abby is racking up many other awards.
1) Des Moines Register Academic All-State Nominee
2) KWWL Best of Class 2024
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Abby Kacmarynski from Hillcrest Academy was honored as a member of the 2024 Best of the Class. KWWL and the University of Northern Iowa recognized valedictorians or top graduating seniors from across eastern Iowa at a celebration on Saturday, April 27 at the McLeod Center on the UNI campus.
3) Iowa Governor’s Scholar Award
DES MOINES, Iowa – Abby Kacmarynski from Hillcrest Academy was recognized by Gov. Kim Reynolds for outstanding academic achievement at the 22nd Annual Governor’s Scholar Recognition Ceremony held Sunday, April 28 at Community Choice Convention Center in Des Moines.
