7 McLean Residents Win $2,500 National Merit Scholarships

MCLEAN, VA — Seven students from McLean are among the 2,500 recipients of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation's $2,500 scholarships announced Wednesday. They were chosen in a selection process that started with the 2018 PSAT.

The National Merit $2,500 Scholarship winners 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. Virginia had 68 recipients in this round of scholarships.

The seven National Merit Scholarship winners from McLean are:

Charlotte C. Gidley, Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart
Probable career field: Law

Joshua M. Gong, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Probable career field: Computer science

Jeffrey Pei, Langley High School
Probable career field: Business

Katherine Rose Plaza, The Potomac School
Probable career field: Biology

Emily Wang, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Probable career field: Computer science

Karina C. Wugang, Langley High School
Probable career field: Law

Richard Zhan, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Probable career field: Computer science

The 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program started when about 1.5 million students took the 2018 PSAT as juniors. The 16,000 semifinalists were the highest-scoring entrants in their states, representing less than 1 percent of seniors.

Approximately 15,000 of the semifinalists qualified as finalists after completing a scholarship application with an essay and information about extracurricular activities, awards, and leadership positions. Semifinalists also had to demonstrate an outstanding academic record, earn SAT or ACT scores confirming their PSAT performance, and get a recommendation from a high school official.

The $2,500 scholarship winners were chosen by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors based on the information submitted by finalists and their high schools. The 2,500 awards are mainly financed by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

The first 2020 National Merit Scholarships, announced on April 22, were corporate-sponsored awards for more than 1,000 students. On June 3 and July 13, around 4,100 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship winners will be announced. In all, around 7,600 finalists will receive over $30 million in National Merit Scholarships this year.

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