McCarley Maddock, left, and Jack Mobley, two students from the Diocese of Charleston, were named 2016 National Merit Finalists recently, placing them in the top one percent of high school students in the United States.
McCarley is from Cardinal Newman in Columbia and Jack is from St. Joseph’s Catholic in Greenville. They earned the top distinction from a crowded field of about 1.5 million students from more than 22,000 high schools.
Students enter the contest by taking the preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which serves as an initial screen of program entrants. The pool of finalists, about 15,000 students, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state.
Eventual winners of Merit Scholarship® awards are chosen from the finalist group based on their abilities, skills, and accomplishments.
