4 Newtown Students Named National Merit Scholars

DOYLESTOWN, PA — Several students from Council Rock high schools and one from George School have been named National Merit Scholarship winners, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

Four students were among 2,500 who were chosen from a talent pool of about 16,000 outstanding finalists in the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program.

Here are the winners:

Ava E. Ondik, Newtown
School: Council Rock High School North, Newtown
Probable career field: Science/research

Shiyong Xi, Newtown
School: George School, Newtown
Probable career field: Academia

Lorena Ye, Newtown
School: Council Rock High School North
Probable career field: Biology

Allison C. Zhu, Newtown
School: Council Rock High School North
Probable career field: Finance

These students are the finalists in each state judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies. The number of winners named in each state is proportional to the state's percentage of the nation's graduating high school seniors.

These scholars were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors, who appraised a substantial amount of information submitted by both the finalists and their high schools: the academic record, including difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned; scores from the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test; contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essay written by the Finalist; and a recommendation written by a high school official.

NMSC finances most of these single-payment National Merit $2500 Scholarships.

Corporations and company foundations that sponsor awards through NMSC also help underwrite these scholarships with grants they provide in lieu of paying administrative fees.

Scholars can use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university.

This year's National Merit Scholarship Program began in October 2019 when over 1.5 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools took the PSAT/NMSQT, which served as an initial screen of program entrants. Last fall, the highest-scoring participants in each state, representing less than one percent of the nation's high school seniors, were named Semifinalists on a state-representational basis.

Only these about 17,000 semifinalists had an opportunity to continue in the competition.

From the semifinalist group, some 16,000 students met the very high academic standards and other requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition.

By the conclusion of the 2021 program, about 7,500 finalists will have earned the "Merit Scholar" title and received a total of nearly $30 million in college scholarships.

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