Local National Merit Scholarship winners announced

National Merit Scholarship Corporation announces the 2017 National Merit $2,500 Scholarship winners. The 2,500 Merit Scholar designees were chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 outstanding finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program.

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.

NMSC finances most of these single-payment National Merit $2,500 Scholarships. Corporations and company foundations that sponsor awards through NMSC also help underwrite these scholarships with grants they provide in lieu of paying administrative fees. Scholars may use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university.

This year’s National Merit Scholarship Program began in October 2015 when over 1.6 million juniors in more than 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, some 15,000 students met the very high academic standards and other requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition. By the conclusion of the 2017 program, about 7,500 finalists will have earned the “Merit Scholar” title and received a total of over $32 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 420 independent corporate and college sponsors that share NMSC’s goals of honoring scholastically talented youth and encouraging academic excellence at all levels of education.

The scholarship recipients from Delaware County and immediate surrounding areas for 2017 are:

BRYN MAWR: Samuel Weiss of Friends Central School, probable career in physics; Kail J. Yuan of Radnor High School, probable career in mechanical engineering (robotics).

CHADDS FORD: Patrick J. Stoyer of Garnet Valley High School; Nicholas Y. Yang of Unionville High School, probable career in biology;

GARNET VALLEY: Liam P. Haffey of Salesianum School, probable career field in business;

GLEN MILLS: Samyukt Kannurpatti of Garnet Valley High School, probable career in chemical engineering; Maxwell M. Xu of Bayard Rustin High School, probable career in pediatrics

HAVERFORD: Dean Manko of the Haverford School; John A. McGovern of Haverford High School, probable career in political science; Sang-O Park of Harriton High School, probable career in medicine

NEWTOWN SQUARE: Ryan Shah of Penncrest High School, probable career in biology

SWARTHMORE: Sarah Myers of Strath Haven High School, probable career in international human rights; Katherine M. Wenger of Strath Haven High School, probable career in education

THORNTON: Jae Hyun Kim of Garnet Valley High School, probable career in medicine

VILLANOVA: Joyce M. Gu of Harriton High School, probable career in environmental engineering; Jessica T. Pevner of Radnor High School, probable career in biomedical engineering