Lake Bluff Student Among First Group Of National Merit Winners

LAKE FOREST, IL — A Lake Forest High School senior was named a winner of a corporate-sponsored National Merit scholarship Wednesday, as the first National Merit scholars of the year were announced.

The winners include approximately 1,000 high-school seniors from across the U.S. and 52 from Illinois. According to a release from the National Merit Scholarship Program, the corporate scholarships are financed by about 140 corporations, company foundations and other business organizations.

The awards are renewable for up to four years of undergraduate study and students get a stipend that’s anywhere between $1,000 and $10,000 each year. Some of the awards include a single payment of $2,500 to $5,000.

More than 1.5 million students applied for the highly competitive scholarship and the program says that around 7,500 students will go on to win scholarships in 2021 that total $30 million.

In September, eight students from Lake Forest High School and three from Lake Forest Academy were named among 16,000 semifinalists.

Helene L. Gu, of Lake Bluff, was awarded the National Merit Abbvie Inc. scholarship. She intends to pursue a career in biology, according to National Merit.

The first round of winners were selected from students who advanced to the finalist level and met criteria set by corporate sponsors. Most corporate-sponsored scholarships are limited to qualifying children of employees, while some are also open residents of certain areas or those who plan to pursue studies a corporate sponsor wants to encourage.

EARLIER: Eleven Lake Forest Students Named National Merit Semifinalists

Final winners are candidates “judged to have the strongest combination of academic skills and achievements, extracurricular accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies.”

Winners of $2,500 cash scholarships are due to be announced in May with winners of college-sponsored scholarships announced in June and July, according to the Evanston-based nonprofit National Merit Scholarship Corporation.