National Merit Finalist
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Senior among less than 1 % of HS students in the country
National
Merit
Scholarship
Corporation
Ipock also participates in his school’s Academic Decathlon team. Shelly Butler (left) is the principal at Mansfield Legacy High School.
MANSFIELD ISD | A Legacy
High School senior is among the
less than 1 percent of high school
students in the country to be
named a finalist in the National
Merit Scholarship Program.
Congratulations to Phillip Ipock
who earned the distinction based
on his top score on the Preliminary
SAT/National Merit Scholarship
Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).
Out of more than 1.6 million
entrants, only 15,000 students are
6 | Mansfield ISD TODAY
selected as National Merit Finalists.
Phillip will continue in the com-
petition for approximately 7,500
National Merit scholarships worth
more than $32 million offered in
the spring.
“It’s very exciting. I’m really
thankful for everyone who helped
me get here, especially my par-
ents,” said Ipock. “I prepared by
doing a lot of independent study-
ing. I also worked with a lot of prep
books and had help from teachers.”
National Merit finalists are
selected based on their skills, ac-
complishments and potential for
success in rigorous college studies,
without regard to gender, race,
ethnic origin or religious prefer-
ence.
The National Merit Scholarship
Program was founded in 1955 to
identify and honor scholastically
talented American youth and to
encourage them to develop their
abilities to the fullest.