Two Palos Verdes Students Win National Merit Scholarships

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, CA — Two Palos Verdes Peninsula students were chosen to receive 2021 college-sponsored National Merit Scholarships. The recipients are:

• Caleb J. Lee, Palos Verdes Peninsula High School: St. Paul's School, Concord, NH
• Aksh Garg, Palos Verdes Peninsula High School

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced Wednesday the names of California winners of scholarships financed by U.S. colleges and universities. Each award will provide winners $2,500. Students can use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university.

The $2,500 Merit Scholar designees were chosen from a talent pool of some 16,000 outstanding Finalists in the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program.

More scholarship winners will be announced next month, bringing the total number of college-sponsored Merit Scholarship recipients in the 2021 competition to about 4,000.

This announcement marked the second round of National Merit Scholarship awardees in 2021. Additional winners will be announced June 2 and July 12.

The students were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors. The committee evaluated the following criteria: academic record, including difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned, scores from the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Qualifying Test, contributions and leadership in school and community activities, an essay written by the finalist and a recommendation from a school official.

RELATED: 2 Palos Verdes High Schools Named Top U.S. High School: U.S. News