83 Washtenaw County students named to 65th annual National Merit Scholarship Program
Officials of National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced Monday the names of approximately 16,000 Semifinalists in the 65th annual National Merit Scholarship Program, including 83 students from Washtenaw County high schools.
These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $31 million that will be offered next spring. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship® award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. Over 90 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and about half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar® title.
NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 400 business organizations and higher education institutions that share NMSC’s goals of honoring the nation’s scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.
Over 1.5 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2018 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.
To become a Finalist, the Semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the Semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. A Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT® or ACT® scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.
From the approximately 16,000 Semifinalists, about 15,000 are expected to advance to the Finalist level, and in February they will be notified of this designation. All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from this group of Finalists. Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference.
Here are the local students recognized as semifinalists in the 65th annual National Merit Scholarship Program:
Skyline High School
Hashim Asad
Lindsey H. Choi
Laura L. Edwards
Deniz Kirca
Olivia M. McKelvey
Teo D. Miklethun
Kevin R. Sun
Gabriella R. Teodoru
Reid D. VanDiepen
Oliver A. Wang
Pioneer High School
Kevin D. Bruey
Helen M. Brush
Akane O. Hubbard
Soorya S. Janakiraman
Elizabeth J. Kreske
Jesse Li
Ariel K. Mobius
Claire P. Robinson
Carina Z. Sanborn
Jacob T. Sendra
James Benjamin Simon
Kristen M. Umbriac
Srichandana Vangavolu
Ashish R. Venumuddula
Huron High School
William D. Chettleburgh
Rhea J. Cong
Anirudh S. Cowlagi
Julie Heng
Elizabeth B. Li
Eleanor M. Lin
Emma L. Shedden
Tomas O. Stegemann
Allen J. Wu
James A. Xiu
Benjamin Zhang
Jocelyn G. Zhang
Benjamin Y. Zhao
Jonathan J. Zou
Community High School
Natalia M. Eddy
Isabelle B. Lenhardt
Isaac E. McKenna
Max S. Mueggler
Eli L. Shavit
Etai G. Smotrich-Barr
Nina C. van der Velde
Kendra L. Wolter
Greenhills School
Emma L. Chen
Sahil G. Deenadayalu
Anisha M. Fujii
Aarushi Ganguly
Allison M. Nishi
Kaan T. Oral
Nathan B. Rosenberg
Natalie L. Sell
Maya S. Vijan
Alan C. Zhu
Washtenaw International High School
Lidewij M. Florusbosch
Leander P. Hannibal
Sana Hasan
Sridula S. Kallakuri
Celeste Knapp
Pranavi S. Pratapa
Kate Eliot S. Tang
Vrinda N. Vyas
