"Congratulations, Valerie," one Incline High School student said in the hallway of the school to senior Valerie Pober.

"Did you get a scholarship?" another student asked. And the seventeen year old smiled and humbly nodded.

Pober, an all-state musician in both the oboe and violin and a very high-achieving student at Incline High, was celebrated for her selection as a National Merit Scholar - one of the most prestigious scholarships for entering freshmen - and furthermore, for her choice to attend the University of Nevada, Reno this fall to pursue her college degree in Nevada.  

For seven years, the University has partnered with Nevada high schools in Nevada Scholars Signing Days, ceremonies reminiscent of high school athletes' "signing days" to acknowledge the decision of best-and-brightest scholars to attend the University.  

Pober was celebrated and welcomed with her own signing ceremony May 29 in the main lobby of her high school. Her parents, teachers, school administrators, classmates and members of the media were in attendance. A white cake with blue icing reading "Congratulations Valerie!" was offered to the gallery of friends and family after she signed a "letter of intent." The program included remarks by the University's Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Joe Cline, Director of the Advising Center Derek Furukawa and Incline High School Principal Leslie Herman.  

"She is what makes us proud to be in this field," Herman said. "She is a delightful, young woman who works hard in everything she does - as a musician and in school. It's great to keep our brain trust in Nevada; her future is brilliant." 

Pober will join 15 other incoming National Merit Scholars from around the state who were also celebrated and welcomed with signing day ceremonies at their respective high schools - this year held at the Davidson Academy of Nevada, Galena High, Incline High, Reno High, Spring Creek High, Wooster High, or during the combined ceremony in Las Vegas, welcoming students from six Clark County area schools.  

The University also signs and recognizes Presidential Scholars at schools with National Merit Scholars who are all choosing to attend the University. The Presidential Scholarship is awarded to qualified entering freshman with a minimum 3.5 cumulative high school grade-point average and a minimum score of 31 on the ACT or 1360 on the verbal and math portion of the SAT.  

This fall, the University's student body will include about 50 National Merit Scholars and more than 300 Presidential Scholars, the largest number ever enrolled at Nevada.  

"We are very proud of the critical mass of these students on campus," Cline said at Pober's ceremony. "Students like Valerie will get involved in research, bring new ideas and change and enhance the culture of campus."  

Miles Greiner, interim chair of the University's Department of Mechanical Engineering, was also in attendance to welcome Pober into the mechanical engineering program. University President Marc Johnson, Executive President and Provost Kevin Carman, deans, department chairs and many more University representatives often attend to congratulate and welcome these scholars to the Wolf Pack family. Many of the academic representatives of the students' fields of interest offer a welcome bag from the college or department.   

"I plan to do robotics in grad school," Pober said. "And with big companies coming to Reno and undergraduate research opportunities, a lot of things came together and I chose to attend the University of Nevada, Reno."  

"It really was the greatest choice and opportunity for her to continue to do things she enjoys, and that's not true everywhere," Lionel Pober, Valerie's father, said. "Thank you for honoring my daughter. The University has welcomed her with open arms."  

National Merit Scholars at the University receive automatic entry into the Honors Program and up to a $16,000 annual scholarship, which covers costs such as tuition and fees, books and a room in the Residential Scholars Community of the Nevada Living Learning Center. Presidential Scholars receive a $5,000 annual scholarship.  

The Nell J. Redfield Foundation committed an initial gift in 2010 to sponsor 20 National Merit Scholars, and those scholarships have continued through today. Sara Lafrance, a graduate of the University and president of Educational Pathways International, also contributes to the program and has annually sponsored two National Merit Scholars to attend the University in the College of Engineering.  

Scholarships awarded through National Merit programs are regarded as some of the highest academic honors attainable by U.S. high school students. Each year, about 1.5 million students enter the National Merit competition by taking the PSAT. About 15,000 students become Finalists (1 percent), and about half become National Merit Scholars.  

"We are so happy to welcome the top half of 1 percent of these students to the University of Nevada, Reno," Everett Jackson, associate director for admissions in the University's southern Prospective Students Office, said during the Las Vegas signing event.  

The University was notified of its sponsorship status by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation six years ago, and since has seen a more than 300 percent increase in National Merit Scholars attending the University.    

For more information about scholarships at the University, go to unr.edu/financial-aid.