21 Hudson Valley Students Named National Merit Scholars

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — Twenty-one Hudson Valley residents have won National Merit Scholarships, the NMSC announced Wednesday.

This is the second round of this year's announcements. On April 24, about 770 recipients of corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards were named, including six in the Hudson Valley, and on June 5 and July 15, some 3,600 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship winners will be announced.

By the conclusion of this year’s competition, more than 6,870 academic champions will have won National Merit Scholarships worth about $26 million.

The local high school seniors who won awards:

• Samara E. Brown of Armonk, Byram Hills High School. Probable career field: Writing
• Jack D. Zipper of Armonk, King School, Stamford, Connecticut. Probable career field: History
• Robert James MacNaughton IV of Bronxville, Brunswick School, Greenwich, Connecticut. Probable career field: Biotechnology
• Aryan R. Palla of Bronxville, Horace Mann School, Bronx. Probable career field: Physics
• Anushree Buragohain of Central Valley, Monroe Woodbury High School. Probable career field: Law
• Ian E. Cressman of Chappaqua, Horace Greeley High School. Probable career field: English Literature
• Emma B. Jonisch of Harrison, Harrison High School. Probable career field: Mathematics
• Ethan Xiao of Harrison, Rye Country Day School. Probable career field: Mathematics
• Alice J. Cai of Katonah, John Jay High School. Probable career field: Public Health
• Theo A. Meyer of Mount Kisco, The Masters School, Dobbs Ferry. Probable career field: Environmental Engineering
• Emily A. Caro of Pearl River, Pearl River High School. Probable career field: Law
• Brooke E. Luce of Pelham, Pelham Memorial High School. Probable career field: Engineering
• Jeffrey P. Harrigan of Rye, Rye High School. Probable career field: Investment Banking
• Henry Brinberg of Scarsdale, Edgemont High School. Probable career field: Environmental Engineering
• Ronald Feng of Scarsdale, Rye Country Day School. Probable career field: Academia
• Evan D. Merzon of Scarsdale, Edgemont High School. Probable career field: Computer Science
• Natasha Rose Pereira of Scarsdale, Scarsdale High School. Probable career field: Public Policy
• Yejin Sung of Scarsdale, Scarsdale High School. Probable career field: Law
• Nathaniel J. Yellin of Scarsdale, the Leffell School in Hartsdale. Probable career field: Finance
• Julia F. Whalen of Yorktown Heights, Yorktown High School. Probable career field: History

High school juniors entered the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program when they took the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants.

In September 2023, more than 16,000 Semifinalists were designated on a state-representational basis in numbers proportional to each state’s percentage of the national total of graduating high school seniors. Semifinalists were the highest-scoring program entrants in each state and represented less than one percent of the nation’s seniors.

To be considered for a National Merit Scholarship, Semifinalists had to fulfill requirements to advance to Finalist standing. Each Semifinalist was asked to complete a detailed scholarship application, which included writing an essay and providing information about extracurricular activities, awards, and leadership positions. Semifinalists also had to have an outstanding academic record, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, and earn SAT® or ACT® scores that confirmed their qualifying test performance. From the Semifinalist group, over 15,000 met Finalist requirements.

These Scholars were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high
school counselors, who appraised a substantial amount of information submitted by both the
Finalists and their high schools: the academic record, including difficulty level of subjects studied
and grades earned; scores from the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test
(PSAT/NMSQT®); contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essay
written by the Finalist; and a recommendation written by a high school official.