9 From Chesco Are U-Sponsored National Merit Scholarship Winners

CHESTER COUNTY, PA — Local winners in the National Merit Scholarship competition come from Downingtown East, Conestoga, Great Valley, Downingtown West, Spring-Ford, West Chester East, Henderson, and Unionville high schools, and one Malvern resident who attends in Lawrenceville, N.J. is among the winners.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) earlier this month announced over 3,100 winners of National Merit Scholarships financed by U.S. colleges and universities.

College-sponsored Merit Scholarship winners announced in June are a part of the distinguished group of about 7,500 high school seniors who will receive National Merit Scholarships for college undergraduate study worth nearly $30 million.

Officials of each sponsor college selected their scholarship winners from among the Finalists
in the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program who plan to attend their institution. These
awards provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study
at the institution financing the scholarship. An additional group of Scholars will be announced
in July, bringing the total number of college-sponsored Merit Scholarship recipients in the 2021
competition to about 4,000.

This year, 160 higher education institutions are underwriting Merit Scholarship awards
through the National Merit Scholarship Program. Sponsor colleges and universities include 85
private and 75 public institutions located in 42 states and the District of Columbia.

June's local college-sponsored National Merit Scholarship winners are:

Pranav V. Chavali, Downingtown East High School.
Probable career field: Computer Science
University of Maryland Scholarship

Sophia H. Rosan, Conestoga High School
Probable career field: Biochemistry
Boston University Scholarship

Dylan B. O'Hara, Downingtown High School West
Probable career field: Computer Science
Rochester Institute of Technology Scholarship

Isaac W. Hu, Great Valley High School
Probable career field: Computer Science
Boston University Scholarship

Michael Yu, Lawerenceville School
Probable career field: Economics
University of Chicago Scholarship

Anshika Gupta, Spring-Ford High School
Probable career field: Medicine
Boston University Scholarship

Joshua A. Cuozzo, Jr., West Chester East High School
Probable career field: Biology
University of Oklahoma Scholarship

Gabrielle Fernandes, B. Reed Henderson High School
Probable career field: Bioengineering
University of Pittsburgh's Pittsburgh Scholarship

Naman Razdan, Unionville High School
Probable career field: Business Administration
Northeastern University Scholarship

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 (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. Last
fall, approximately 17,000 Semifinalists were named 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
one percent of the nation’s seniors.

To compete for Merit Scholarship awards, Semifinalists first had to advance to the
Finalist level of the competition by fulfilling additional requirements. Each Semifinalist was
asked to submit a detailed scholarship application, which included writing an essay and providing information about extracurricular activities, awards, and leadership positions. Semifinalists
also had to have an outstanding academic record and be endorsed and recommended by a high
school official. From the Semifinalist group, some 16,000 met the requirements for Finalist standing, and about half of the Finalists will be Merit Scholarship winners in 2021.

NMSC, a not-for-profit corporation that operates without government assistance, was
established in 1955 to conduct the National Merit Scholarship Program. The majority of National
Merit Scholarships provided each year are made possible by the support of approximately 400
independent corporate and college sponsors.

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