9 Lake County HS Students Win National Merit Scholarships

EVANSTON, IL — Nine students from high schools and towns across Lake County were awarded National Merit Scholarships financed by U.S. colleges and universities, it was announced June 5. Colleges and universities selected scholarship winners from among the 2019 finalists who plan to attend their institution. These awards provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study.

Sponsor colleges and universities include 95 private and 78 public institutions located in 43 states and the District of Columbia. College-sponsored Merit Scholarship winners are a part of the distinguished group of about 7,600 high school seniors who will receive National Merit Scholarships for college undergraduate study worth over $31 million. Among those academic champions are nine students from across Lake County.

For the 2019 National Merit Scholarship competition, more than 1.6 million juniors in approximately 22,000 high schools took the 2017 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants. Last fall, approximately 16,000 semifinalists were named. They were the highest-scoring program entrants in each state and represented less than one percent of the nation's seniors. Semifinalists then needed to advance to the 'finalist' level of the competition by after submitting a detailed scholarship application, an essay and providing information about extracurricular activities, awards, and leadership positions. They also needed an outstanding academic record, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, and earn SAT® scores that confirmed the qualifying test performance. From the semifinalist group, some 15,000 met requirements for Finalist standing, and about half of the Finalists will be Merit Scholarship winners in 2019.

The Lake County winners are:

Aandal Sridas of Round Lake: Sridas, a Grayslake Central High School student, plans a career in international relations. Sridas was awarded a National Merit University of Texas at Dallas Scholarship.

Mitchell D. Gifford of Libertyville: Gifford, a Libertyville High School student, plans a career in physics. Gifford was awarded a National Merit University of Chicago Scholarship.

Brian Hong of Lake Bluff: Hong, a Libertyville High School student, has undecided career plans, and was awarded a National Merit Northwestern University scholarship.

Katelyn E. Dohler of Vernon Hills: Dohler, a Vernon Hills High School student, plans a career in medicine. Dohler was awarded a National Merit Vanderbilt University Scholarship.

James T. McDonald of Vernon Hills: McDonald, a Vernon Hills High School student, plans to serve in the military. McDonald was awarded a National Merit University of Southern California Scholarship.

Alexa K. Pomerantz of Vernon Hills: Pomerantz, a Vernon Hills High School student, plans a career in applied mathematics. Pomerantz was awarded a National Merit University of Chicago Scholarship.

Mitchell D. Bader of Hawthorn Woods: Bader, a Lake Zurich High School Student, plans a career in computer science. Bader was awarded a National Merit Michigan Arizona State University Scholarship.

David V. Zaccarine of Hawthorn Woods: Zaccarine, a Lake Zurich High School Student, plans a career in biomedical engineering. Zaccarine was awarded a National Merit University of Minnesota Scholarship.

Shvetali V. Thatte of Vernon Hills: Thatte, a Lake County resident, attends school outside Lake County (at Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, Aurora), and plans a career in medicine. Thatte was awarded a National Merit Case Western Reserve University Scholarship.

Established in the 1950s, the National Merit Scholarship Program and its corporate and college sponsors seek to "enhance educational opportunities for America's scholastically talented youth and to encourage the pursuit of academic excellence."