Meredith Seibel, sr., has been named a Commended Student in the 2003 National Merit Scholarship Program. She is the daughter of Brad and Judith Seibel.

There are a total of 34,000 Commended Students that are recognized throughout the nation.

Although Seibel will not continue in the 2004 competition for Merit Scholarship awards, she placed among the top five percent of more than one million students who entered the competition.

To be entered into the competition, students had to take the 2002 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

“I was pleased to receive this academic honor, especially since I had been somewhat disappointed with my PSAT score last year, which was lower than my score sophomore year,” Seibel said. “I really didn’t think I’d make the cut-off for Commended status, so it was a nice surprise.”

Seibel has a few ideas as to where she would like to attend college after graduation.

“I’ve spent quite a bit of time visiting Yale, and would love to go there. If not, I’d like to go to Dartmouth, UPenn, or KU,” Seibel said. “I’m planning to major in Business or Economics, but I may change my mind after taking a few college courses.”

Although no scholarship money is directly awarded, Seibel said that many colleges offer substantial scholarships to entice Commended students to attend their schools.