Rome City Schools would like to congratulate Karly Nguyen on being named a National Merit Scholarship Finalist. From an initial field of more than 1.3 million high school students, Nguyen is now one of only 15,000 students to be selected as a finalist.
Nguyen was recently named Rome High School’s STAR Student for the Class of 2025. Nguyen is the daughter of Dung and Tein Ngyuen.
Nguyen has a 4.518 grade point average. She is an AP Scholar with Distinction, an AP Capstone Diploma Recipient, a National Merit Semifinalist, and earned The College Board’s National First Generation Recognition.
“Karly is an outstanding student who has truly gone above and beyond at Rome High. She has done very well academically. She has also participated in numerous clubs and activities and spent time volunteering,” Rome High Principal Parke Wilkinson said. “We are very proud of her and can’t wait to see what the future holds.”
She has been on the Academic Honor Roll all four years and has earned the Georgia Certificate of Merit, the Freshman Wolf Award, has been named a Young Georgia Writers winner, a Laws of Life Essay winner, and a Governor's Honors nominee. She has taken 13 AP classes, one dual enrollment class, and completed two Fine Arts Pathways in Chorus and Visual Arts.
Along with her academic honors, Nguyen has been very active at Rome High School. She sings alto in the Rome High Chorale and has been named to the District Honor Choir. She is involved in the BEAR Club, Interact Club, 21st Century Leaders, National Honor Society, Junior Civitan Club, Psychology Club, and is a DECA member. She was also part of the robotics team.
Nguyen also has spent time volunteering at St. Mary’s Catholic Church and her parent’s nail salon.
Nguyen plans to attend the University of Georgia where she has already been accepted into the school’s Double Dawgs Program. She plans to major in art and is still deciding what her second major will be.
“I’ve already applied to UGA, and I got my acceptance last year. I'm planning to enroll there and major in art and possibly also double major in another subject. I do want to participate in the Double Dawgs program,” she said.
Nguyen said she wants to major in art for one of her majors, and then focus on how technology could affect creativity.
National Merit Finalists compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $2500 Scholarships that will be awarded on a state-representational basis. About 840 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 160 corporations and business organizations for finalists who meet their specified criteria, such as children of the grantor’s employees or residents of communities where sponsor plants or offices are located. In addition, about 160 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 3,800 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for finalists who will attend the sponsor institution. National Merit Scholarship winners of 2025 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July.
The National Merit Scholarship Program is an annual academic competition among high school students for recognition and college scholarships that began in 1955. The program is conducted by National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC®), a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance. United States high school students enter the National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which serves as an initial screen of over 1.3 million entrants each year, and by meeting published program entry and participation requirements.