Samuel Chretien, a senior honors student at The Prout School, was recently named a finalist in the prestigious National Merit Scholarship Program. The National Merit® Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships. High school students enter the National Merit Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®) — a test which serves as an initial screen of approximately 1.5 million entrants each year — and by meeting published program entry and participation requirements. Of the 1.5 million initial entrants, only 15,000 — or 1 percent — become finalists. Additionally, Chretien has been selected a winner of the National Merit MetLife Foundation Scholarship. Merit scholarship awards like these are awarded to about 7,400, or half, of the National Merit Scholarship Finalists. Chretien is a member of the National Honor Society, has served on the student council, is a member of the boys’ cross country and track teams and is a member of the math team. He is also a peer minister and a senior mentor. “I am humbled and honored to be a finalist and a scholarship winner and I thank my teachers at Prout for preparing me so well,” said Chretien. “During my sophomore year, my goal was to be a Semi-Finalist and, later, during my junior and senior years, my goal was to be a Finalist. I never thought I’d also be the winner of a scholarship.” Sam plans on attending Brown University in Providence in the fall where he will study Applied Mathematics-Economics.
