Final 2020 National Merit Scholars Include 3 Chantilly Students

CHANTILLY, VA — Three Chantilly residents were included in the final group of National Merit Scholarship winners for 2020. Over 650 additional winners were announced Monday, bringing the number of 2020 scholarship recipients to about 7,600 high school graduates.

Rhea P. Kulkarni, a graduate of Freedom High School, Tanya Kurnootala of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, and Rohan Voddhi of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology were among 10 Virginia winners in the final selection.

College-sponsored scholarships were offered to National Merit Scholarship finalists who will attend their institutions. Winners receive annual scholarships between $500 and $2,000 for up to four years of undergraduate education. Nationwide, 167 colleges and universities in 43 states and DC sponsored scholarships.

The latest winners join about 3,300 college-sponsored winners announced in June. Another 1,000 corporate-sponsored scholarships were announced on April 22, and 2,500 of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation's own awards were announced on May 13.

Here are the two Chantilly winners of college-sponsored awards in the 2020 competition:

• Rhea P. Kulkarni of Chantilly, Freedom High School. College-sponsored award from Florida Atlantic University with a possible career in medicine.
• Tanya Kurnootala of Chantilly, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. College-sponsored award from Virginia Commonwealth University with a possible career in medicine.
• Rohan Voddhi of Chantilly, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. College-sponsored award from the University of Chicago with a possible career in computer science.

Students were entered into the 2020 National Merit Scholarship competition by taking the 2018 Preliminary SAT. Around 16,000 semifinalists, the highest-scoring students in each state, were chosen in proportion to each state's share of graduating high school seniors. These semifinalists represent less than 1 percent of seniors in the U.S.

To narrow down the field to finalists, semifinalists were asked to submit a scholarship application with an essay, recommendation from a high school official and information about extracurricular activities, awards, and leadership positions. Semifinalists had to demonstrate an outstanding academic record and SAT or ACT scores that reinforce their PSAT performance. About 15,000 students became finalists and are considered for awards.

The approximately 7,600 finalists nationwide won $30 million in National Merit Scholarships in 2020.