CHS, KHS seniors receive National Merit Scholarships
On May 12, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced this year’s National Merit $2,500 Scholarship winners, which included Central High School senior Rohan Bansal and Kickapoo High School senior Katherine Lynch. The $2,500 Merit Scholar designees were chosen from a talent pool of more than 16,000 outstanding Finalists in the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program.
Rohan Bansal will receive an annual $2,500 scholarship to the university of his choice, funded by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. His probable career field is computer science.
Katherine Lynch will receive an annual $2,500 scholarship to the university of her choice, funded by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Her probable career field is academia.
In late April, CHS senior Sreya Mandava was awarded a corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship, the National Merit Walgreen Co. Scholarship. Only 1,000 distinguished high schools seniors are award corporate-sponsored scholarships, which are financed by 140 corporations nationwide.
National Merit $2,500 Scholarship winners are the finalists in each state judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies. The number of winners named in each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the nation’s graduating high school seniors. These Scholars were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors, who appraised a substantial amount of information submitted by both the Finalists and their high schools: the academic record, including difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned; scores from two standardized tests; contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essay written by the Finalist; and a recommendation written by a high school official.
This year’s National Merit Scholarship Program began in October 2019 when over 1.5 million juniors in approximately 21,000 high schools took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. Last fall, the highest-scoring participants in each state, representing less than one percent of the nation’s high school seniors, were named Semifinalists on a state-representational basis. Only these 16,000 Semifinalists had an opportunity to continue in the competition.
From the semifinalist group, some 16,000 students met the very high academic standards and other requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. By the conclusion of the 2021 program, about 7,500 Finalists will have earned the “Merit Scholar” title and received a total of nearly $30 million in college scholarships.
NMSC, a not-for-profit corporation that operates without government assistance, was founded in 1955 specifically to conduct the National Merit Scholarship Program. The majority of scholarships offered each year are underwritten by approximately 400 independent corporate and college sponsors that share NMSC’s goals of honoring scholastically talented youth and encouraging academic excellence at all levels of education.