The National Merit Scholarship Corporation recently announced that Darlington's Dawson Horah has been selected as a finalist in the National Merit Scholarship competition. The senior was chosen from the initial pool of qualifying high school students as one of 15,000 to advance to the competition's next level. Finalists begin the rigorous process by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) as a junior.
Beginning in April, 7,400 scholarship awards totaling over $32 million will be announced to winners that earn the title of Merit Scholar.
"All of us at Darlington are extremely proud of Dawson. Throughout his years here, he has always been an absolutely outstanding student, consistently earning top honors," said Sam Moss (’63), Darlington’s dean of college guidance. "Moreover, he has challenged himself with an extremely demanding course load. Dawson's hard work has certainly paid off for him in the college admissions process, as he has already been admitted to the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech, and is waiting to hear from Duke, Johns Hopkins, Harvard, and Washington and Lee."
Horah has taken 19 Honors and AP courses at Darlington. He is a member of the Servant Leadership Committee, the Stadium Band, Science Club, Cum Laude Society, Mu Alpha Theta Honor Society, Tri M Music Honor Society and Spanish Honor Society.
Horah is a four-time recipient of the Athletic Booster Club Scholar-Athlete Award for Golf. He has received the J. Daniel Hanks Scholarship Award and E.L. Wright Awards for AP U.S. History, AP Biology, Pre-Calculus, Spanish 1, Spanish 2 and Spanish 3.
Outside of Darlington, Horah is a Cross Point kids leader at Cross Point City Church in Cartersville, Ga. He is the son of Stephanie and David Horah of Euharlee, Ga.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 440 business organizations and higher education institutions that share NMSC’s goals of honoring the nation’s scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.
