First 2021 National Merit Scholars Include Burke Resident

BURKE, VA — A student from Burke is among the first winners of National Merit Scholarships in 2021.

On Wednesday, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced winners of the corporate-sponsored scholarships in the 66th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. This group includes around 1,000 high school seniors with awards financed by about 140 corporations, company foundations, and other business organizations.

In all, 28 of the initial winners hail from Virginia. Nathaniel H. Joachim of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology received a scholarship from the MITRE Corporation and plans to study computer science. Another winner was Mrinal Bhatnagar of Fairfax, who attends Robinson Secondary School. Bhatnagar plans to study physics with the award from Truist Financial Corporation.

Over 1.5 million students in around 21,000 high schools were entered into the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program when they took the 2019 Preliminary SAT as juniors. In September 2020, around 17,000 semifinalists were chosen based on each state's percentage of graduating high school seniors. Semifinalists were the highest-scoring students in their states, representing about 1 percent of the country's high school seniors.

To be considered for a finalist standing, semifinalists had to submit a scholarship application with an essay, information about extracurricular activities, awards, and leadership positions as well as demonstrate an outstanding academic record and receive a high school official's recommendation. Around 16,000 semifinalists qualified as finalists.

Corporate-sponsored award winners were chosen from the group of finalists. Companies chose children of their employees, students who are residents of communities the company serves, or students who plan to pursue college majors or careers the company wants to encourage.

Most awards provide annual stipends between $1,000 and $10,000 and can be renewed for up to four years of an undergraduate college program. Others provide a single payment between $2,500 and $5,000. Winners may use the awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university.

Winners of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation's own $2,500 Scholarships will be named on May 12, and winners of college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be announced June 2 and July 12. An estimated 7,500 students will win National Merit Scholarships valued around $30 million in 2021.