27 San Diego Area Students Named U.S. Presidential Scholar Candidates

San Diego, CA — Twenty-seven San Diego Area students, 12 of whom attend Canyon Crest Academy, were named as candidates to become U.S. Presidential Scholars.

5,000 students out of roughly 3.6 million students were named as candidates for the prestigious award, which honors graduating high school seniors with superior achievements in academics, leadership, and community involvement.

San Diego students named as candidates are:

• Shreya Goel, San Diego - Canyon Crest Academy
• Grace L. Li, San Diego - Canyon Crest Academy
• Justin Luo, San Diego - Canyon Crest Academy
• Yubo J. Wu, San Diego - Canyon Crest Academy
• Stephen Xu, San Diego - Canyon Crest Academy
• Yundi Xu, San Diego - Canyon Crest Academy
• Isabella Y. Yang, San Diego - Canyon Crest Academy
• Lia Zheng, San Diego - Canyon Crest Academy
• Stephen Xu, San Diego - Canyon Crest Academy
• Yundi Xu, San Diego - Canyon Crest Academy
• Isabella Y. Yang, San Diego - Canyon Crest Academy
• Lia Zheng, San Diego - Canyon Crest Academy
• Lynn Choi, San Diego - Del Norte High School
• Aman Jain, San Diego - Del Norte High School
• Alicia Q. Ji, San Diego - Del Norte High School
• Ellen Xu, San Diego - Del Norte High School
• Alexander J. Berger, San Diego - The Bishop's School
• Shirley T. Xu, San Diego - The Bishop's School
• Christine Tsu, San Diego - Torrey Pines High School
• Mia L. Chen, San Diego - Westview High School
• Ayush Nayak, San Diego - Westview High School
• Isabella Santos, San Diego - Westview High School
• Amy Wang, San Diego - Westview High School

La Jolla students named as candidates are:

• Micah C. Afshar, La Jolla - La Jolla Country Day School
• Arianna E. Roberts, La Jolla - La Jolla High School
• William P. Macdonald, La Jolla - La Jolla High School
• Niamh Malhotra, La Jolla - The Bishop's School

A panel of distinguished educators will review submissions and select approximately 600 semifinalists in early April. The Commission on Presidential Scholars, a group of up to 32 eminent citizens selected by the president, will select up to 161 finalists, whose names will be announced in May.

The U.S. Presidential Scholars Program was established in 1964 to recognize the nation’s most promising students. Most students are selected based on broad academic achievement, though each year, about 20 students are selected based on outstanding academic and artistic achievement, and another 20 or so are selected based on outstanding career and technical education achievement.

Candidacy is invitation-only. Students who score exceptionally well on either the SAT or ACT exam are identified as candidates. Eligible candidates are also identified by their state’s Chief State School Officer and several other recognition organizations such as YoungArts and The National Foundation for the Advancement of Artists.

Winners do not receive a monetary scholarship, like the National Merit Scholarship. Instead, they are invited to an all-expenses paid trip to the White House, where they are presented with a Presidential Scholars Medallion at a special ceremony.

For more information, contact presidential.scholars@ed.gov or visit ed.gov/psp.