Mayfield Student Gets National Merit Scholarship

MAYFIELD HEIGHTS, OH — The journey to a National Merit Scholarship is long and arduous. It starts with 1.6 million high school applicants and is whittled down to 3,200 recipients. Among that select few is a Mayfield High School student.

All winners were selected from a pool of finalists in the 2017 National Merit Scholarship Program. Each student plans to attend the university sponsoring their scholarship. The awards range between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study.

Mayfield Heights' own Lakshi Mittal is among the 2017 recipients. Mittal plans to attend the University of Chicago and pursue a career in computer science. (Stay up-to-date on all local news by subscribing to the Mayfield Patch newsletter.)

Mittal had heavy competition for National Merit Scholarships. Some 1.6 million high school juniors nationwide entered the competition when they took part in the 2015 PSAT test.

A selection committee whittled down the entrants until 16,000 semifinalists had been announced. Semifinalists were then asked to submit a detailed scholarship application, which included an essay and information on their extracurricular activities, awards, and leadership positions. The students also had to be endorsed by a high school official and earn SAT high SAT scores. About 15,000 students met the finalist requirements.

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