Local Students Named National Merit Scholarship Finalists

Fourteen high school students from six Pasadena schools have been selected as finalists in the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program, an annual academic competition for recognition and college undergraduate scholarships administered by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

Since the program started in 1955, the program has recognized over 3.4 million talented high school students throughout the United States and provided some 451,000 scholarships worth over $1.8 billion.

A list provided by Eileen Artemakis, Executive Director of Public Information of the National Merit Scholarship Program, showed the following Pasadena students were selected as among the 15,000 finalists in the program:

• Sreya Chilukuri, La Salle High School

• Phillip N. Gan, Maranatha High School

• Harper K. Tzou, Maranatha High School

• Chloe G Marick, Mayfield School

• Hannah M. Sherman, Mayfield School

• Jaimyn M. Drake, Pasadena High School

• Tosten N. Pearson, Pasadena High School

• Theodore Demetriades, Polytechnic School

• Edward P. Konjoyan, Polytechnic School

• Andrew J. Thein, Polytechnic School

• Clara Kleindorfer, Westridge School

• Grace Knuth, Westridge School

• Claire L. Swift, Westridge School

• Xintong Wu, Westridge School

• Charlotte Zhang, Westridge School

Artemakis said the finalists were endorsed and recommended by their high school principal after achieving high academic performance in Grades 9 through 12. Entry to the program includes writing an essay and completing the national merit scholarship application before taking a Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).

As finalists, each of the 14 Pasadena students are given a Certificate of Merit attesting to their distinguished performance in the competition, Artemakis said.

From the 15,000 finalists nationwide, a final list of 7,500 students will be selected to receive National Merit Scholarships which are of three types: a $2,500 scholarship; a a corporate-sponsored Merit scholarship for students whose parents work for a sponsoring corporation, company foundation or business; and a college-sponsored Merit scholarship for students who plan to attend a sponsor college or university.

“Winners are chosen on the basis of their abilities, skills, and accomplishments,” Artemakis said. “Scholarship recipients are the candidates judged to have the greatest potential for success in rigorous college studies. A National Merit Scholarship represents years of hard work in intellectual pursuits. About half of the Finalists will win scholarships.”

The NMSC will start announcing scholarship winners starting with the corporate-sponsored Merit scholarship recipients on April 27. The National Merit $2,500 scholarship winners will be announced on May 11, and the college-sponsored Merit scholarship winners will be announced in two announcements on June 1 and July 11.

The NMSC also administers the National Achievement Scholarship Program, which began in 1964 and is specifically awarded to academically accomplished Black American students.

For more information about the NMSC and their scholarship programs, visit www.nationalmerit.org.