ABOUT 70 graduating senior high school students from Olongapo City, Zambales and Bataan were the first to experience the online examination and interview administered by SM Foundation Inc. and SM Olongapo malls.

Through social media postings, news releases and referrals, the applicants, ome of them came all the way from Sta. Cruz, Zambales and Mariveles, Bataan, took the exams with the hope of making it to the list of SM scholars.

The SM Scholarship program offers free tuition, monthly allowance, choice of specialization in Accounting, Information Technology, Engineering and Education, part-time job opportunities during semestral and Christmas break, exclusive job offers with the SM Group after graduation, other fun-filled activities and enrichment programs.

Those who passed the exams were interviewed on the same day by the Human Resources personnel of SM City Olongapo Central and SM City Olongapo Downtown and were instructed to wait until April for the final list of passers.

Aside from the exams and interview, SM scholars will be chosen according to the following qualifications public high school graduate in the areas covered; private high school graduates with Department of Education voucher in areas covered; completed junior high school from a public school; general weighted average grade of at least 88 percent or its equivalent for Grade 12 - first semester; and a total household income of at most P150,000 per year.