Schools
3 Poway Unified Students Win National Merit Scholarships
Students receive a $2,500 scholarship based on grades, scores, extracurriculars and more.
POWAY, CA — Twenty-eight high school students in San Diego County — including three from high schools in Poway Unified School District — were named National Merit Scholars this week, a prestigious designation for 2,500 students that comes with a $2,500 scholarship.
The scholarship winners were selected out of 15,000 candidates across the country, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. A committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors selected the winners as having the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills and potential for success in college.
Finalists were judged based on their Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test score, their academic record, an essay, extracurricular activities and a recommendation from a high school official.
Find out what's happening in Powayfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
In San Diego County, the following winners were announced:
- Evan C. Ballow of Encinitas
- School: San Dieguito Academy
- Probable career field: Civil Engineering
- Jonah K. Pawlak of Encinitas
- School: San Dieguito Academy
- Probable career field: Mechanical Engineering
- Katherine S. Frost of La Jolla
- School: La Jolla High School
- Probable career field: Marketing
- Caroline S. Gaffney of La Jolla
- School: La Jolla High School
- Probable career field: Wildlife Conservation
- Emma Hong of La Jolla
- School: The Bishop's School
- Probable career field: Electrical Engineering
- Clare K. Malhotra of La Jolla
- School: The Bishop's School
- Probable career field: Undecided
- Andrew K. Park of La Jolla
- School: La Jolla High School
- Probable career field: Economics
- Ayush Agrawal of San Diego
- School: Canyon Crest Academy
- Probable career field: Environmental Engineering
- Ashveen Banga of San Diego
- School: Francis Parker School
- Probable career field: Biomedical Engineering
- Tyler J. Bodenhamer of San Diego
- School: Canyon Hills High School
- Probable career field: Computer Engineering
- Oliver S. Britton of San Diego
- School: Francis Parker School
- Probable career field: Biochemical Engineering
- Hannah M. Chen of San Diego
- School: Del Norte High School
- Probable career field: Biomedical Engineering
- Sohan J. Chunduru of San Diego
- School: La Jolla Country Day School
- Probable career field: Public Policy
- Andrew K. Gao of San Diego
- School: Canyon Crest Academy
- Probable career field: Biotechnology
- Meilene K. Hanaki of San Diego
- School: University City High School
- Probable career field: Biochemical Engineering
- Daniel S. Kim of San Diego
- School: Mount Carmel High School
- Probable career field: Mechanical Engineering
- Chengda Li of San Diego
- School: Torrey Pines High School
- Probable career field: Applied Mathematics
- Vivian W. Li of San Diego
- School: La Jolla Country Day School
- Probable career field: Science/Research
- Nicholas Xinquan Liu of San Diego
- School: The Bishop's School
- Probable career field: Computer Science
- Megan Peng of San Diego
- School: Torrey Pines High School
- Probable career field: Law
- Emerson Utgaard of San Diego
- School: Patrick Henry High School
- Probable career field: Bioengineering
- Aakarsh Vermani of San Diego
- School: Westview High School
- Probable career field: Computer Science
- Sophia P. Welsh of San Diego
- School: Mira Mesa High School
- Probable career field: Biomedical Engineering
- Caitlin Rose Wilson of San Diego
- School: Point Loma High School
- Probable career field: Biomedical Engineering
- Amy Wang Xu of San Diego
- School: Canyon Crest Academy
- Probable career field: Science/Research
- Michael L. Zeng of San Diego
- School: The Bishop's School
- Probable career field: Computer Science
- Joshua E. Zhang of San Diego
- School: Canyon Crest Academy
- Probable career field: Business Administration
- Vanessa Zhou of San Diego
- Probable career field: Biomedicine
- School: Scripps Ranch High School
The National Merit Scholarship awards are financed by the National Merit Scholarship Committee. Other National Merit Scholarships are underwritten by about 400 corporations or company foundations.
Find out what's happening in Powayfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Scholarship finalists have been announced on a staggered basis since fall 2021, when 16,000 high school seniors who scored in the top 1 percent of the PSAT were named semifinalists.
In April, about 1,000 corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholars were named, and on June 1 and July 11, 4,000 more college-sponsored scholarship winners will be announced. By the end of 2022, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation estimated that 7,500 scholars will have been awarded a total of about $28 million.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
