East Meadow Student Wins National Merit Scholarship

EAST MEADOW, NY — An East Meadow student was one of just a few from across the country that was named a National Merit Scholarship winner, and will receive a yearly scholarship for college for four years.

Patrick Donnelly, a student at East Meadow High School, was one of 3,100 winners of the National Merit Scholarship, which is funded by colleges and universities from across the country. Winners receive between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years. He is receiving the Nationanl Merit Northeastern University Scholarship, and plans on studying electrical engineering.

More than 1.5 million high school juniors from 21,000 schools across the country entered the scholarship program when they took the 2019 PSAT exams. Semifinalists were selected from those that took the exams.

In order to earn the scholarships, semifinalists had to submit a detailed scholarship application, which included an essay and info about extracurricular activities, awards and leadership positions. The semifinalists also had to have an outstanding academic record and a recommendation from a high school official.

About 16,000 students met the requirements to advance to the finals. Another group of winners will be chosen from the group in July. In total, about 7,500 students will receive National Merit Scholarships.