Rye HS Grad Wins College National Merit Scholarship

RYE, NY — The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced the final round of winners in the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program. Six of them are from the Hudson Valley, including one from Rye.

The more than 650 winners are receiving National Merit Scholarships financed by colleges and universities. These Merit Scholar designees join more than 3,300 other college-sponsored award recipients who were announced in June.

The designees were chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 outstanding finalists.

The final round of winners from the Hudson Valley are:

• Ishani Bansal of Highland, a graduate of Highland High School. Probable career field: Biomedical Engineering. NATIONAL MERIT STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIP
• Dara J. Anhouse of Larchmont, a graduate of the Masters School in Dobbs Ferry. Probable career field: Public Health. NATIONAL MERIT BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIP
• Valeriy A. Donchev of Mount Kisco, a graduate of Fox Lane High School. Probable career field: Aerospace Engineering. NATIONAL MERIT RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE SCHOLARSHIP
• Jacob N. Weinstein of New Paltz, a graduate of New Paltz Central High School. Probable career field: Computer Science. NATIONAL MERIT STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIP
• Zachary M. Rosenstadt of Rye, a graduate of Rye High School. Probable career field: International Relations. NATIONAL MERIT NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIP
• Iris C. Lin of Scarsdale, a graduate of Edgemont High School. Probable career field: Law. NATIONAL MERIT NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIP

Officials of each sponsor college selected their scholarship winners from among the Finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program who will attend their institution.

College-sponsored awards provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution financing the scholarship.

This year, 167 colleges and universities are sponsoring about 4,100 Merit Scholarship awards. Sponsor colleges include 92 private and 75 public institutions located in 43 states and the District of Columbia.

This final group of winners brings the number of 2020 National Merit Scholars to about 7,600. These distinguished high school graduates will receive scholarships for undergraduate study worth a total of over $30 million. In addition to college-sponsored awards, two other types of National Merit Scholarships were offered — 2,500 National Merit $2500 Scholarships, for which all Finalists competed, and more than 1,000 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for Finalists who met criteria specified by their grantor organizations.

SEE ALSO:

• 8 HV Students Win 2020 Corporate-Sponsored Merit Scholarships
• 35 Hudson Valley Seniors Win 2020 National Merit Scholarships
• 29 More Hudson Valley Students Win National Merit Scholarships