Staff report

Lafayette High School senior Cameron Bolen has been named a finalist in the prestigious 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program.

He is among the top high school students nationwide to continue competing for scholarships offered in the spring.

Being a National Merit Finalist is a significant achievement and can be included on college applications, resumes and other professional documents. Many colleges and universities give preferential treatment to National Merit finalists in the admissions process.

National Merit finalists are selected based on their outstanding scores on the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) in their junior year. This honor is awarded to fewer than 1 percent of high school seniors nationwide.

A finalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.