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Scottsdale schools have National Merit Scholarship semifinalists

Posted 9/15/21

A scroll of students’ names, who attend schools in Scottsdale, was embargoed until the National Merit Scholarship Corporation officially announced  semifinalists for its National Merit Scholarship on Wednesday, Sept. 15.

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Scottsdale schools have National Merit Scholarship semifinalists

Posted

A scroll of students’ names, who attend schools in Scottsdale, was embargoed until the National Merit Scholarship Corporation officially announced  semifinalists for its National Merit Scholarship on Wednesday, Sept. 15.

Students attending various Scottsdale schools were listed among the names of approximately 16,000 semifinalists in the 67th annual National Merit Scholarship Program that recognizes academically-talented high school seniors.

“Tomorrow, the names of the semifinalists in the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program will be released,” said Dr. Scott A. Menzel, SUSD superintendent, during a special Sept. 14 board meeting.

“We are sworn to secrecy until then but I can share with you this evening that SUSD will have 20 high school seniors in the running for 7,500 National Merit scholarships worth nearly $30 million this school year. We look forward to celebrating this achievement with them and with you at a future board meeting.”

The students have an opportunity to compete for some 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $30 million to be offered next spring. From the approximately 16,000 semifinalists, about 15,000 are expected to advance to the finalist level, and will be notified in February, according to a press release.

Local semifinalists in the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program:

Basis School

  • Abboud, Amira J.
  • Baird, Charles M.
  • Basu, Neha
  • Hamer, Ella L.
  • Hao, Emily Z.
  • Hopp, Aidan A.
  • Hwang, Heeyoung L.
  • Kuo, Tyler M.
  • Lenzmeier, Ethan T.
  • Lenzmeier, Matthew T.
  • Mehta, Siddharth D.
  • Nair, Ananth S.
  • Pargaonkar, Om
  • Patel, Dillan A.
  • Peng, Wesley H.
  • Ramani, Sadhana
  • Rane, Riley
  • Rizqi, Rayhan
  • Ryu, Gina S.
  • Samal, Soham
  • Satish, Dhruv
  • Shembekar, Madhura R.
  • Tang, Nathan H.
  • Vittal, Sunil P.
  • Vontela, Neha
  • Wang, Harold

Chaparral H. S.

  • Dunn, Grace E.
  • Lee, Jeremy
  • Pai, Dashram K.

Cicero Preparatory Academy

  • Gu, Sophia

Desert Mountain H. S.

  • Adha, Dhruv R.
  • Agarwal, Bella
  • Amkraut, Eric
  • Baldus, Paige D.
  • Johnson, Ryan M.
  • Kross, Camden D.
  • Leis, Maya A.
  • Mawk, Brendan R.
  • Shah, Rakshak J.
  • Srivastava, Yeju
  • Wang, Eleanor Y.
  • Yin, Jiatian

Notre Dame Preparatory H. S.

  • Wong, Radia

Saguaro H.S.

  • Hutton, Colin D.
  • McAndrews, Kennan P.

Scottsdale Preparatory Academy

  • Akula, Shreya
  • Kulhan, Ryan M.
  • Manero, Brandon T.
  • Patel, Kush P.

Meanwhile, all National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from the group of finalists. Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, noted the release.

Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2022. Every finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $2,500 scholarships to be awarded on a state-representational basis.

About 1,000 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 220 corporations and business organizations for finalists meeting specified criteria, according to the release.

About 180 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 4,000 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.