Saratoga, Los Gatos, Campbell Students Named National Merit Scholars

SARATOGA - The 2016 National Merit $2500 scholarship winners were announced Wednesday, and Santa Clara Valley students are well represented on the list.

12 students from Saratoga were honored by a panel of judges to have the "strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies."

Cupertino had more students than any other medium-sized city in Silicon Valley, with 16 students cited, while Sunnyvale had 11 students honored.

Palo Alto honors were given to 10 students. Los Altos had five students honored, Santa Clara and Mountain View had three, and Los Gatos and Milpitas each claimed two National Merit scholars.

One student was honored from Campbell.

Here is the complete list of students named from Saratoga, Los Gatos and Campbell:

• Giulia V. Corno SARATOGA 95070 - Probable career field: Neuroscience - SARATOGA H. S., SARATOGA
• Victoria S. Ding SARATOGA 95070 - Probable career field: Undecided - HARKER SCHOOL, SAN JOSE
• Manu Gopakumar SARATOGA 95070 - Probable career field: Electrical Engineering - ST. FRANCIS H. S., MOUNTAIN VIEW
• Alexander Li SARATOGA 95070 - Probable career field: Materials Science - SARATOGA H. S., SARATOGA
• Celine K. Liang SARATOGA 95070 - Probable career field: Mathematics - SARATOGA H. S., SARATOGA
• Anika Mohindra SARATOGA 95070 - Probable career field: Undecided - HARKER SCHOOL, SAN JOSE
• Brendan S. Ney SARATOGA 95070 - Probable career field: Computer Science - SARATOGA H. S., SARATOGA
• Khalil R. Sarwari SARATOGA 95070 - Probable career field: Computer Science - WESTMONT H. S., CAMPBELL
• Sean Shi SARATOGA 95070 - Probable career field: Computer Science - SARATOGA H. S., SARATOGA
• Rishi Veerapaneni SARATOGA 95070 - Probable career field: Computer Science - SARATOGA H. S., SARATOGA
• Michelle G. Wang SARATOGA 95070 - Probable career field: Computer Science - MONTA VISTA H. S., CUPERTINO
• Kenneth K. Yuan SARATOGA 95070 - Probable career field: Computer Science - LYNBROOK H. S., SAN JOSE
• Zuhra H. Bholat LOS GATOS 95033 - Probable career field: Public Policy - LOS GATOS H. S., LOS GATOS
• Evan M. Lohn LOS GATOS 95032 - Probable career field: Computer Science - HARKER SCHOOL, SAN JOSE
• Shana Mathew CAMPBELL 95008 - Probable career field: Computer Science - ARCHBISHOP MITTY H. S., SAN JOSE

Here is the complete list of students named from California.

The 2,500 Merit Scholar designees were chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 finalists in the 2016 National Merit Scholarship Program.

According to officials, the number of winners named in each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the nation’s graduating high school seniors.

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