Strongsville Students Win National Merit Scholarships

STRONGSVILLE, OH — Two Strongsville High School students were named National Merit Scholarship winners on Wednesday.

Matthew W. Cornelius and Vardaan T. Shah received $2,500 scholarships during the second round of the competition. Cornelius intends to study theoretical physics, while Shah intends to study engineering according to a news release from the National Merit Scholarship organization.

The first round of corporate-sponsored scholarships were announced April 21 and included 37 students from Ohio, including Alexandru Sachelari from Strongsville.

For each state, the number of winners is proportional to the state’s percentage of the nation’s graduating high school seniors. The program says the winners are the finalists “judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills and potential for success in rigorous college studies.”

More than 1.5 million students applied for the highly competitive scholarship and the program says that around 7,500 students will go on to win scholarships in 2021 that total $30 million. Winners of the college-sponsored scholarship will be announced in June and July.

A total of 16,000 students were selected as finalists for the scholarships and the final winners are candidates “judged to have the strongest combination of academic skills and achievements, extracurricular accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies.”