Grace Haring is congratulated by Winston Greene, Mansfield City Schools testing coordinator, for her achievement as a National Merit Scholarship Qualifier.
For a young woman who questions her own math skills, Grace Haring is doing all right.
The Mansfield Senior High School junior, who plans one day to become a psychiatrist, is a 2016 National Merit Scholarship Qualifier. Her score on the qualifying test last fall places her among the 50,000 highest-scoring students nationwide from a pool of approximately 1.5 million who took the test.
That puts Haring, 16, in elite company – the top 3.3 percent.
“I took the test in October. I got in at 7 a.m. and the test lasted until lunch,” she said. “I felt really good afterward, but I wasn’t certain about anything until I got the official word last week.”
In September Haring will learn if she is among 16,000 national semifinalists, representing the top scorers in each state. Half of the semifinalists will receive $2,500 National Merit Scholarships in 2016 while others may qualify for scholarships sponsored by colleges, universities and corporations.
The demanding Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test encompassed three parts – critical reading, writing skills and, yes, mathematics.
“I’m fairly confident in some areas but I also know where I need work. Math is my weaker area, so I put in a lot of extra study,” said Haring, who is consistently on Senior High’s All-As honor roll.
Principal Brad Callender congratulated Haring in a letter that accompanied written notification from the nonprofit National Merit Scholarship Corporation.
“This recognition will certainly enhance your collegiate opportunities,” he wrote. “You are already widely recognized as one of the best! Keep up the good work. We are all very proud of you.”
The questions were different but the test format was familiar to Haring. She had taken it every year, for practice, since the seventh grade. The results count only for juniors.
Winston Greene, the district’s testing coordinator, was not surprised by Haring’s achievement as a national qualifier.
“Her scores had increased every year. I kept telling everyone, ‘Watch this girl. She’s going to do it,’“ he said.
Haring, the daughter of David and Jill Haring, visited Northwestern University at Evanston, Ill., earlier this week. During the summer she plans to visit Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., but will keep “shopping around” for what she believes is the best opportunity to continue her education.
“Right now, I would like to become a psychiatrist, specializing in helping young women,” Haring said. “I want to help others. I see such a problem with self-confidence among young women, some of it attached to social media. So many have a feeling of insecurity. I want to say to them, ‘You are worth it! You can do it!’”
For now, Haring will focus on her coming senior year at Senior High, where she is a member of National Honor Society, French Club, OCC Leadership and the varsity swim team. She had parts in the musical theater productions of “Grease” and “Cinderella” and earned honors for her project at State Science Day in 2014.
This year, Ohio Attorney General Mike Dewine selected Haring to serve on his Teen Advisory Board. The statewide panel of students is afforded an inside look at law and government while sharing views on issues that affect teens.