Shakopee Student Wins National Merit Scholarship

Shakopee High School senior Jeffrey Qiu has been awarded a National Merit $2500 Scholarship. The 2,500 Merit Scholar designees were chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 finalists.

The High Potential Coordinator at , Judith Tomczik, said in an email to Patch Tuesday that she has had the pleasure of working quite closely with Jeffrey Qiu for the past several years. 

"Though his scores on tests such as the PSAT, which is the initial qualifier for the National Merit Scholars Program, are very impressive, I think his dedication to overall academic excellence is even more outstanding," Tomczik said. "For example, on his own initiative he entered and achieved semi-finalist status in the prestigious Intel Science Talent Search."

Jamie Paulson, who teaches AP Statistics, called Qiu an amazing student.

"While many students find their first college-level math tests extremely difficult to perform well on, he has earned an A on every test I have given all year, and has done so with ease," he said.

Qiu is an Advanced Placement (AP) Scholar of Distinction, an award he received for his performance on multiple AP tests. For some of these AP tests, he completed coursework at Shakopee High School, and for others, he studied independently. Last year as a junior, he completed the rigorous courses in the University of Minnesota Talented Youth Mathematics Program.

National Merit $2500 Scholarship winners are the finalists in each state judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies. They were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors. These scholars may use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university.