6 HV Students Win 2021 Corporate-Sponsored Merit Scholarships

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — The 2021 corporate-sponsored National Merit $2,500 Scholarship winners were announced in April by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

The designees were chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 outstanding finalists — and six of them are from Westchester County.

The 1,000 high school seniors awards are financed by about 140 corporations, company foundations, and other business organizations.

Scholars were selected from students who advanced to the Finalist level in the National Merit Scholarship competition and met the criteria of their scholarship sponsors. Corporate sponsors provide National Merit Scholarships for Finalists who are children of their employees, who are residents of communities the company serves, or who plan to pursue college majors or careers the sponsor wishes to encourage.

Most of these awards are renewable for up to four years of college undergraduate study and provide annual stipends that range from $1,000 to $10,000 per year. Some provide a single payment between $2,500 and $5,000. Recipients can use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university of their choice.

More than 1.5 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2021 National Merit
Scholarship Program when they took the 2019 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship
Qualifying Test.

In September 2020, roughly 17,000 Semifinalists were designated on a state-representational
basis in numbers proportional to each state’s percentage of the national total of graduating
high school seniors. Semifinalists were the highest-scoring program entrants in each state and
represented less than 1 percent of the nation’s seniors.

By the conclusion of the 2021 competition, about 7,500 Finalists will have been selected to receive National Merit Scholarships totaling nearly $30 million. NMSC is expected to name recipients of National Merit® $2500 Scholarships and winners of college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards later this spring.

Local students winning corporate based awards:

Talia Dinstein of Armonk. Byram Hills High School. Probable career field: Business. NATIONAL MERIT MARSH & MCLENNAN COMPANIES SCHOLARSHIP

Eve A. Tanios of Briarcliff Manor. Briarcliff High School. Probable career field: Undecided. NATIONAL MERIT PFIZER INC SCHOLARSHIP

Alik G. Shehadeh LARCHMONT 10538
Probable career field: Journalism

RYE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL, RYE

NATIONAL MERIT MARSH & MCLENNAN COMPANIES SCHOLARSHIP

Nicholas J. DeSanctis OSSINING 10562
Probable career field: Computer Engineering

ARCHBISHOP STEPINAC H. S.,
WHITE PLAINS

Guillermo Peschard Rioboo PURCHASE 10577
Probable career field: Physics

FRENCH AMERICAN SCHOOL OF NEW
YORK, MAMARONECK

Alexander S. Kyimpopkin WHITE PLAINS 10607
Probable career field: Electrical Engineering

HACKLEY SCHOOL, TARRYTOWN

NATIONAL MERIT AON SCHOLARSHIP