Schools
2 Lake Forest Seniors Awarded Cash National Merit Scholarships
The two students were judged to have the "accomplishments, skills and potential for success in rigorous college studies."
LAKE FOREST, IL — Two high school seniors from Lake Forest — one who attends Lake Forest High School and another who goes to Lake Forest Academy — were awarded $2,500 cash scholarships last week from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.
The students are among 2,500 scholarship winners to receive cash scholarships from National Merit's own funds. The number of winners in each state is proportional to the state's share of the total number of graduating seniors in the nation, according to the Evanston-based nonprofit.
Brendan Q. Flaherty, of Lake Forest Academy, has a probable career field in engineering.
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Siddhartha M. Ohja, of Lake Forest High School, has not decided on a probable career field.
According to National Merit, winning students are those that are found to possess "the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies." The single-payment scholarships can be used at any accredited college or university in the country.
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Winners are picked based on results from the preliminary SAT, roles in school and extracurricular activities, a recommendation from a school official and a student essay.
"I was thrilled to learn that I was chosen as a National Merit Scholar," Ojha said in a statement issued by the district following the May 11 scholarship announcement. "I am very grateful for this recognition, as well as the scholarship that the Lake Forest High School Foundation has awarded me, and honored to represent Lake Forest High School."
In addition to the $2,500 scholarships, National Merit distributes corporate-sponsored and college-sponsored scholarships.
The winners of the corporate-sponsored scholarships were announced last month. They included Stevenson High School senior Margaret Chen and Lake Forest High School senior Devin Radzely, both Lake Forest residents, and Green Oaks resident Nikhil Patel, who attends Libertyville High School.
The approximately 4,000 winners of the college-sponsored scholarships are set to be announced in June and July. And by the time the 2022 program is complete, about 7,500 merit scholars will have been allocated about $28 million in scholarship to attend U.S. colleges and universities.
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