Northridge And Chatsworth Students Named National Merit Scholars

NORTHRIDGE-CHATSWORTH, CA — One student from Northridge and another from Chatsworth were named National Merit Scholarship Corp. award winners this year.

The 2,500 Merit Scholars who each won a $2,500 scholarship were chosen from a pool of 16,000 finalists, according to the corporation.

Winners were judged based on their academic record, SAT and PSAT scores, participation in school and community activities, recommendations and essays. A team of college admissions officers and high school counselors chose the finalists.

Merit Scholars were announced Monday. Se Eun Ryu, who is from Northridge and attends Granada Hills Charter High School, and Vince Dao D'Aloisio, who is from Chatsworth and attends Chatsworth Charter High School, were both winners. Ryu said that she wants to be a writer, while D'Aloisio says he wants to be a political correspondent.

This announcement marked the second round of National Merit Scholarship awardees in 2021. Additional winners will be announced June 2 and July 12.

The National Merit Scholarship Corp. said it will award a total of $30 million to 7,500 "academic champions" by this fall.

— Michael Wittner and Patch staffer Courtney Teague contributed to this report.