Carmel Catholic Senior Named National Merit Scholar

Sarah L. Nelson, of Arlington Heights, has been selected as a winner of a National Merit $2500 Scholarship. Nelson is a senior at Carmel Catholic High School in Mundelein.

Merit Scholar designees were chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 finalists in the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program.

High school students enter the National Merit Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which serves as an initial screen of approximately 1.6 million entrants each year.

All winners of Merit Scholarship awards are chosen based on their abilities, skills, and accomplishments. A variety of information is available for judges to evaluate: the Finalist's academic record, information about the school's curricula and grading system, two sets of test scores, the high school official's written recommendation, information about the student's activities and leadership, and the Finalist's own essay.

Nelson will attend the University of Notre Dame in the fall of 2018 and hopes to major in Finance.

Carmel Catholic High School is a Catholic, college preparatory and secondary school for young men and women in grades 9 through 12. Carmel Catholic is committed to meeting the academic, physical, social and spiritual needs of the students it serves. Carmel Catholic is jointly sponsored by the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM) and the Order of Carmelites (O.Carm). Carmel Catholic is a four-time recipient (1985, 1996, 2002 and 2007) of the prestigious Blue Ribbon School award by the U.S. Department of Education. The school enrolls approximately 1,200 students each year.