14 Hudson Valley National Merit Scholarship Winners Announced

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — The next group of 2021 National Merit scholarship winners include 14 high school students from the Hudson Valley.

These winners of National Merit college-sponsored scholarships are among the more than 3,100 announced nationally this year to receive between $500 and $2,000 scholarships from colleges and universities across the country, the National Merit Scholarship Corp. said in a news release Wednesday.

National Merit Scholarship winners in the latest round include:

• Kyle R. Chang, Ardsley High School. Probable career field: Computer Science. NATIONAL MERIT UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SCHOLARSHIP
• Erin C. Blake of Bedford. Fox Lane High School. Probable career field: Music Composition. NATIONAL MERIT INDIANA UNIVERSITY BLOOMINGTON SCHOLARSHIP
• Peter M. Wu of Blauvelt. Tappan Zee High School. Probable career field: Mathematics. NATIONAL MERIT FORDHAM UNIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIP
• Dina R. Millerman of Chappaqua. Horace Greeley High School. Probable career field: Environmental Science. NATIONAL MERIT BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIP
• Sophia O. Kottman of Cold Spring. Haldane High School. Probable career field: Undecided. NATIONAL MERIT UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SCHOLARSHIP
• Adam Oppenheimer, Hastings-on-Hudson High School. Probable career field: Physics NATIONAL MERIT UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SCHOLARSHIP
• Jacob M. Prisament, Hastings-on-Hudson High School.
  Probable career field: Engineering. NATIONAL MERIT FRANKLIN W. OLIN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING SCHOLARSHIP
• Sara S. Chuang of Katonah. Somers High School. Probable career field: History. NATIONAL MERIT UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SCHOLARSHIP
• Gregory C. Gold of Larchmont. Mamaroneck High School. Probable career field: Biomedical Engineering. NATIONAL MERIT VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIP
• Matthias S. Lai, New Paltz Central High School. Probable career field: Journalism. NATIONAL MERIT FORDHAM UNIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIP
• Calvin S. Walker of Rhinebeck. Choate Rosemary Hall. Probable career field: Entrepreneurship. NATIONAL MERIT UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SCHOLARSHIP
• Alexandre I. Friedman, Scarsdale High School. Probable career field: Undecided. NATIONAL MERIT TUFTS UNIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIP
• Wesley G. Miller, Eastchester High School. Probable career field: Academia. NATIONAL MERIT CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIP
• Lauren E. Kitts, Yorktown High School. Probable career field: Medicine. NATIONAL MERIT FORDHAM UNIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIP

An additional group of college-sponsored National Merit scholars will be announced in July, the scholarship corporation said. This group is part of the approximately 7,500 National Merit scholarship winners who will be selected by the end of 2021.

National Merit scholarships via corporate-sponsored awards and the corporation’s own $2,500 scholarships were announced earlier in the spring. SEE:

• 36 Hudson Valley Seniors Win 2021 National Merit Scholarships
• 6 HV Students Win 2021 Corporate-Sponsored Merit Scholarships

More than 1.5 million juniors nationally entered the 2021 National Merit scholarship program when they took the 2019 preliminary SAT/National Merit scholarship qualifying test, the corporation said. About 17,000 semifinalists, fewer than 1 percent of the country’s high school seniors, were announced last fall.

Semifinalists had to write an essay and detail their extracurricular activities, awards and leadership positions to become a finalist. About half of the 16,000 finalists will be merit scholars by the end of the year, the corporation said.