Spreadsheets cannot be edited once they're added to Merit. Make any necessary changes to your spreadsheet prior to uploading it.
When preparing your achievement, you may occasionally find that you want to discuss students in more detail than a single placeholder will allow.
One of the best ways to add a high level of unique personalization for each student is to use full or partial sentences in your spreadsheet. This page includes instructions for incorporating sentences or fragments into achievements.
How It Works
The most important thing to remember as you start preparing a spreadsheet with highly unique variables is that each cell in your spreadsheet can be inserted into the body of your story as a placeholder.
The text in each placeholder will appear exactly as it did in your spreadsheet. The punctuation and capitalization from that cell will carry over into your achievement, which means you can insert full or partial sentences wherever they are needed.
If some of your students are missing information in these cells, Merit will skip the placeholder for that person. Because the placeholder contained a full or partial sentence the story will look great both with and without the placeholder.
Examples
There are many times you may need to add sentences or sentence fragments to your story. Here are some examples of ways you can use full or partial sentences in your achievements. Each example below contains a snippet of template text, a sample spreadsheet, and a look at the final published version of the text:
Awards and Award Descriptions
When writing achievements about end-of-year awards, you'll often want to include a description of the award(s) each student earned. Use full-sentence placeholders to provide information about the award itself:
Placeholder Sentence:
(FIRST NAME) (LAST NAME), of (HOMETOWN), earned the (AWARD) at Merit University's 2025-26 Senior Banquet. (AWARD DESCRIPTION)
Spreadsheet:
Final Version:
Cristian Ortega, of Albany, earned the Senior Leadership Award at Merit University's 2025-26 Senior Banquet. MU's Senior Leadership Award is given to students who display leadership abilities while serving as members of Merit University's student government.
Individual Quotes
Occasionally, you may have quotes from some (or all) of the students involved in one of your achievements. Add a column to your spreadsheet to contain the full-sentence quote and attribution:
Placeholder Sentence:
(FIRST NAME) (LAST NAME), of (HOMETOWN), represented Merit University at the 2026 Student Photography Expo. (QUOTE)
Spreadsheet:
Final Version:
Jennifer Thomas, of Boston, represented Merit University at the 2026 Student Photography Expo. "The Expo showcases the most talented student photographers from across the country," said Thomas. "It was an honor to participate in the the event. I'll never forget this experience."
Project or Performance Descriptions
Students involved in special projects on campus, participating in the arts/performing arts, or playing sports may have achieved something special that you'd like to call attention to. Use a full-sentence placeholder to describe their individual accomplishments:
Placeholder Sentence:
(FIRST NAME) (LAST NAME), of (HOMETOWN), was a member of the Badgers Men's and Women's Mixed Dodgeball team that finished second at the New York State Dodgeball Shootout. (STATISTICS)
Spreadsheet:
Final Version:
Suzy Jones, of Buffalo, was a member of the Badgers Men's and Women's Mixed Dodgeball team that finished second at the New York State Dodgeball Shootout. Jones was the highest scoring sniper in the tournament, earning 14 put-outs, 7 catches and 12 deflections.
Student Background
Other times, you may simply have more information about some students than you do others. If you'd like to include student's high schools or parents' names in your story but don't have that data for everyone in your list, use partial sentences to fill in the gaps:
Placeholder Sentence:
(FIRST NAME) (LAST NAME), of (HOMETOWN), was named to Merit University's Spring 2026 Dean's List. (BACKGROUND)
Spreadsheet:
Final Version:
Sara O'Neil, of Tampa, was named to Merit University's Spring 2026 Dean's List. O'Neil is the daughter of Tom and Brenda O'Neil and a graduate of Bellevue High School.