ROME, GA - Rome City Schools would like to congratulate Brendan Stickland on being named a National Merit Scholarship Finalist. From an initial field of more than 1.3 million high school students, Strickland is now one of only 15,000 students to be selected as a finalist.
“Brendan is a great kid who has truly left his mark here at Rome High School through his participation in academics, arts and athletics,” Rome High Principal Parke Wilkinson said. “We are proud of him and his achievements here at Rome.”
Strickland, who was recently named Rome High’s STAR Student, has excelled in the classroom, on the stage, on the track and on the trails pursuing academic, artistic and athletic achievement.
Strickland is set to graduate in May, having taken 15 AP Courses and accumulating a 4.5 GPA. Strickland has been honored as an AP Scholar with Distinction and has been taking Dual Enrollment Calculus II at Berry College.
Along with his academic pursuits, Strickland has helped pioneer the German Club, serves as Tenor section leader in Rome High’s nationally ranked Show Choir, Grand Finale, and lettered for both the cross country and track and field squads.
Strickland plans on majoring in Computer Science and pursuing a doctorate with a focus on Artificial Intelligence. He is the son of Dr. Andy Strickland and Emily Strickland.
National Merit Finalists compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $2500 Scholarships that will be awarded on a state-representational basis. About 840 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 160 corporations and business organizations for finalists who meet their specified criteria, such as children of the grantor’s employees or residents of communities where sponsor plants or offices are located. In addition, about 160 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 3,800 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for finalists who will attend the sponsor institution. National Merit Scholarship winners of 2024 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July.
The National Merit Scholarship Program is an annual academic competition among high school students for recognition and college scholarships that began in 1955. The program is conducted by National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC®), a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance. United States high school students enter the National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which serves as an initial screen of over 1.3 million entrants each year, and by meeting published program entry and participation requirements.