National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced 10 District 204 students are 2016 National Merit $2500 Scholarship winners. The Merit Scholar designees were chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 outstanding Finalists in the 2016 National Merit Scholarship Program. National Merit 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.
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 competition for National Merit Scholarships began in October 2014 when over 1.5 million juniors in some 22,000 high schools took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, 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, 15,000 students met the very high academic standards and other requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition.
The following are District 204's 2016 National Merit Scholarship Winners:
Xingyu Chen, Neuqua Valley. Anne E. Botos, Neuqua Valley. Tushar Dwivedi, Neuqua Valley. Julia A. Ehlert, Waubonsie Valley. Natasha M. Gupta, Neuqua Valley. Jason M. Kwon, Metea Valley. Sarvasva Raghuvanshi, Neuqua Valley. Geethanjali Rajagopal, Waubonsie Valley. Apoorva Tummala, Neuqua Valley. and Joyce Zhao, Neuqua Valley.
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 competition for National Merit Scholarships began in October 2014 when over 1.5 million juniors in some 22,000 high schools took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, 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, 15,000 students met the very high academic standards and other requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition.
The following are District 204's 2016 National Merit Scholarship Winners:
Xingyu Chen, Neuqua Valley. Anne E. Botos, Neuqua Valley. Tushar Dwivedi, Neuqua Valley. Julia A. Ehlert, Waubonsie Valley. Natasha M. Gupta, Neuqua Valley. Jason M. Kwon, Metea Valley. Sarvasva Raghuvanshi, Neuqua Valley. Geethanjali Rajagopal, Waubonsie Valley. Apoorva Tummala, Neuqua Valley. and Joyce Zhao, Neuqua Valley.