2 Plymouth-Whitemarsh HS Seniors Win National Merit Scholarships

PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA — Two Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School students have been selected as winners of the prestigious National Merit Scholarship, placing them among the elite in the nation.

Adyanta Anand, of Plymouth Meeting, has received the National Merit University of Maryland Scholarship and plans to study computer engineering.

Alexander William Babka, also of Plymouth Meeting, has received the National Merit Lehigh University Scholarship, and plans to study actuarial science.

About 2,900 winners from around the country were selected from a massive national pool, which started off with the entire national Pre-SAT pool and was whittled down to 16,000 semi-finalists. A second group of around 3,000 2024 winners will be announced in July.

In order to be considered as finalists, semifinalists completed a scholarship application with an essay and information about extracurricular activities, awards, and leadership positions. Semifinalists also had to demonstrate an outstanding academic record, earn SAT or ACT scores confirming their PSAT performance, and get a recommendation from a high school official.

Scholarship winners were the finalists determined to "have the strongest combination of academic skills and achievements, extracurricular accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies," according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.