San Ramon Students Win College-Sponsored National Merit Scholarships

SAN RAMON, CA — Five San Ramon students were awarded National Merit Scholarships financed by the institutions they plan to attend. Awards range from $500 to $2500.

The students were among 6,870 high school seniors nationally who are receiving college-based scholarships. In September, more than 16,000 semifinalists were selected on the basis of their PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test scores. To advance to the finalist round, semifinalists needed to have an outstanding academic record, be endorsed or recommended by a high school official, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm their qualifying test performance.

More National Merit Scholarships will be announced in July.

Below are the names, current schools, universities, and probable career fields of the San Ramon students.

• Prerita Babarjung, Dougherty Valley High School, University of Texas at Dallas, software engineering
• Dhruv Harinath, Dougherty Valley High School, Claremont McKenna College, banking
• Vaishnavi Kolluru, Dougherty Valley High School, University of Southern California, computer science
• John Park, Dougherty Valley High School, University of Southern California, law
• Kaustubh Pullela, Head-Royce School, University of Southern California, computer science