Roland Schwope, a senior at Nashville High School, has been named a semifinalist in the 72nd annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
Schwope is among more than 16,000 students nationwide with an opportunity to advance in the competition for about 6,700 National Merit Scholarships.
He is the first Nashville student since Jonathon Lance, a 2013 graduate, to reach the semifinalist round.
Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level, according to the Merit Scholarship program. Each student and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application which includes information about the student’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards.
The students are required to be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the earlier performance on the qualifying test administered to juniors in 2025.
Finalists will be notified in February 2027.
Schwope, a member of the NHS band, said he found out about being named a semifinalist “at the [football] game” Friday night, Sept. 11. His father showed him a picture of the state semifinalist list.
After taking the qualifying test, “I thought I wasn’t going to make it” to the next round, Schwope said. He thought about ROTC as a way to attend college.
He’s still looking at ROTC, possibly at Harding University. He’s also interested in the Air Force Academy, Coast Guard Academy and West Point.
“Dad and I are trying to find good scholarships,” and ROTC is one avenue, he said.
Schwope’s father David, a Nashville High School teacher, was a also semifinalist when he attended NHS and advanced to the finalist round of the Merit competition.
