Lake Bluff Student Wins National Merit Scholarship To Vanderbilt

LAKE FOREST, IL — A recent Lake Forest High School graduate is among the more than 3,000 winners of college-sponsored National Merit scholarships announced Wednesday.

Jonas R. Kobza, of Lake Bluff, was awarded a National Merit scholarship sponsored by Vanderbilt University, a private school in Nashville, Tennessee.

Kobza plans to pursue a career in the field of computer science, according to National Merit.

More than 150 colleges and universities are providing annual awards of between $500 and $2,000 a year for four years of undergraduate study.

Kobza was one of 14 students at high schools in Lake Forest who were last year named National Merit semifinalists based on the results of a Preliminary SAT test taken during their junior years, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, the Evanston-based nonprofit that has administered the program since 1955.

They included six from Lake Forest High School, seven from Lake Forest Academy and one from the Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart.

In order to become eligible for scholarships, semifinalists are required to submit a detailed application, including an essay and recommendation from a high school official.

With nearly 90 percent of scholarship winners already announced, Kobza is the third member of the class of 2023 at Lake Forest high school to be awarded a National Merit scholarships so far this year.

In April, a student from LFHS and one from Lake Forest Academy were awarded corporate-sponsored scholarships through W.W. Grainger.

The final group of National Merit scholarships — about 800 more recipients — are due to be announced on July 10.

By then, about 7,140 recent high school graduates will have been awarded about $28 million in scholarships.

Earlier: 11 Students At Lake Forest Schools Named National Merit Semifinalists