West Hartford Student Wins National Merit Scholarship

WEST HARTFORD, CT — The National Merit Scholarship Corporation has announced the second round of its 2022 scholarship winners, and a West Hartford student made the list.

Students included in this round will receive a $2,500 scholarship that can be used at any accredited college or university of their choosing. Officials chose 2,500 students for the award out of 15,000 finalists.

And Sophie C. Kudler, a senior at Hall High School who plans to study medicine, was among those 2,500 winners who were named National Merit Scholars.

Though most scholarships were funded by the NMSC itself, Kudler's was underwritten by 3M, the St. Paul, Minnesota-based company.

"These scholarships, a part of 3M's significant support to education, reflect the company's strong belief that higher education is the key to providing qualified future leaders for our businesses, our communities, and our country," officials said in a statement.

The winners were chosen by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors.

Winners are picked based on academic record (including difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned), scores from the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, involvement in school and community activities, an essay written by the finalist and a recommendation written by a high school official.

The number of winners in each state is proportional to that state's percentage of the nation's graduating high school seniors, NMSC officials said.

The corporation's first round of winners — recipients of corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards — was announced on April 27, and on June 1 and July 11, an additional 4,000 or so college-sponsored Merit Scholarship winners will be announced.