9 From Chesco Are U-Sponsored National Merit Scholarship Winners

Malvern PA

25 June, 2021

4:06 PM

Description

CHESTER COUNTY, PA — Local winners in the National Merit Scholarship competition come from Downingtown East, Conestoga, Great Valley, Downingtown West, Spring-Ford, West Chester East, Henderson, and Unionville high schools, and one Malvern resident who attends in Lawrenceville, N.J. is among the winners. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) earlier this month announced over 3,100 winners of National Merit Scholarships financed by U.S. colleges and universities. College-sponsored Merit Scholarship winners announced in June are a part of the distinguished group of about 7,500 high school seniors who will receive National Merit Scholarships for college undergraduate study worth nearly $30 million. Officials of each sponsor college selected their scholarship winners from among the Finalistsin the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program who plan to attend their institution. Theseawards provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate studyat the institution financing the scholarship. An additional group of Scholars will be announcedin July, bringing the total number of college-sponsored Merit Scholarship recipients in the 2021competition to about 4,000. This year, 160 higher education institutions are underwriting Merit Scholarship awardsthrough the National Merit Scholarship Program. Sponsor colleges and universities include 85private and 75 public institutions located in 42 states and the District of Columbia. June's local college-sponsored National Merit Scholarship winners are: Pranav V. Chavali, Downingtown East High School. Probable career field: Computer ScienceUniversity of Maryland Scholarship Sophia H. Rosan, Conestoga High SchoolProbable career field: BiochemistryBoston University Scholarship Dylan B. O'Hara, Downingtown High School West Probable career field: Computer ScienceRochester Institute of Technology Scholarship Isaac W. Hu, Great Valley High School Probable career field: Computer ScienceBoston University Scholarship Michael Yu, Lawerenceville SchoolProbable career field: EconomicsUniversity of Chicago Scholarship Anshika Gupta, Spring-Ford High SchoolProbable career field: MedicineBoston University Scholarship Joshua A. Cuozzo, Jr., West Chester East High SchoolProbable career field: BiologyUniversity of Oklahoma Scholarship Gabrielle Fernandes, B. Reed Henderson High SchoolProbable career field: Bioengineering University of Pittsburgh's Pittsburgh Scholarship Naman Razdan, Unionville High SchoolProbable career field: Business AdministrationNortheastern University Scholarship More than 1.5 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2021 National MeritScholarship Program when they took the 2019 Preliminary SAT/National Merit ScholarshipQualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. Lastfall, approximately 17,000 Semifinalists were named on a state-representational basis in numbersproportional to each state's percentage of the national total of graduating high school seniors.Semifinalists were the highest-scoring program entrants in each state and represented less thanone percent of the nation's seniors. To compete for Merit Scholarship awards, Semifinalists first had to advance to theFinalist level of the competition by fulfilling additional requirements. Each Semifinalist wasasked to submit a detailed scholarship application, which included writing an essay and providing information about extracurricular activities, awards, and leadership positions. Semifinalistsalso had to have an outstanding academic record and be endorsed and recommended by a highschool official. From the Semifinalist group, some 16,000 met the requirements for Finalist standing, and about half of the Finalists will be Merit Scholarship winners in 2021. NMSC, a not-for-profit corporation that operates without government assistance, wasestablished in 1955 to conduct the National Merit Scholarship Program. The majority of NationalMerit Scholarships provided each year are made possible by the support of approximately 400independent corporate and college sponsors. Make sure you know what's happening in your town. Sign up to get Patch emails and don't miss any local news: https://patch.com/subscribe.