Two Richmond Hill High School seniors — Mark Mondt and Mason Murphy — have been awarded National Merit Gulfstream/Rolls-Royce scholarships, the National Merit Scholarship Corp. announced today.

Mondt, Murphy and Braden Chapman were named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists in September. The Gulfstream/Rolls-Royce scholarship is awarded to children of employees who qualify.

Recipients of National Merit Scholarships will be announced on May 10, with winners of college-sponsored scholarships to be announced on June 7 and July 17.

Mondt, who moved here two years ago, is considering Texas A&M and Duke and wants to major in psychology or possibly physics.

Murphy, a Richmond Hill resident since sixth grade, is looking at Georgia Tech for engineering.

Chapman, a Richmond Hill native, is looking at attending either Georgia Tech or UGA and wants to major in some discipline of engineering.

National Merit semifinalists come from about 1.6 million juniors who take the PSAT. The highest scoring entrants in each state, about 1 percent of seniors, become eligible to be semifinalists. SAT scores and a detailed application that includes a semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, leadership and honors along with an essay and administrators’ recommendations determine finalists.

About 15,000 semifinalists are expected to advance to the finalist level and will be notified in February. Finalists are selected for accomplishments as well as potential for success in college.

Every finalist competes for one of 2,500 National Merit $2,500 scholarships, and some 230 companies provide 1,000 scholarships to finalists who meet specific criteria, such as children of employees or residents of communities where sponsor companies are located. An additional 4,000 scholarships financed by 190 colleges and universities also are available.