Immaculata High School Senior Peter Gallo named National Merit Scholar Semifinalist
Immaculata senior Peter Gallo of Asbury is among the elite students nationwide who have an opportunity to continue in the 64th annual competition for some 7,500 National Merit Scholarships, worth more than $31 million, offered next spring. Over 90 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and about half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.
The National Merit Scholarship Program honors individual students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies. Over 1.6 million juniors in over 20,000 high schools entered the 2019 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2017 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest scoring entrants in each state.
To become a Finalist, the semifinalist will be judged on his/her academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors. Gallo currently serves as President of the National Honor Society and is a member of the Spanish Honor Society. Already committed to St. Joseph's University in PA on a baseball scholarship, Gallo is heavily involved in community service through the school's Campus Ministry Program, having participated in a host of projects. A Model UN participant for four years, he will be the Lead Youth Secretariat for the school at this school year's convention. In addition, Gallo, a member of the Math League for four years, received the highest score in the school in the AMC 12 Math Competition.
For the past four years Gallo has been a Marian Scholar, an academic enrichment program for advanced students at Immaculata. Designed to develop high level research and presentation skills on key local and global topics, the program's goal is to foster an adventure of lifetime learning. Besides following a highly advanced honors and AP curriculum, the scholars work with faculty mentors, as well as Marian Scholars program coordinators, on specialized research projects and presentations and receive co-curricular enrichment through excursions, seminars, and speakers.
"Immaculata congratulates Peter on this great achievement," says Head of School Joan Silo. "What is amazing about Peter is the amount of energy and dedication he devotes to all of his endeavors, whether it is academics, community service, baseball, or leadership roles. We wish him the best as he moves forward to the next level of the competition and thank him for being such a great role model and a representative of our school."