National Merit Scholarships Awarded To 17 McLean, Great Falls Students

MCLEAN, VA — In the second round of scholarship winners in the 68th annual National Merit Scholarship Program announced Wednesday, students from McLean and Great Falls were among the winners.

There are 2,500 winners of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation's $2,500 scholarships from its own funds and organizations sponsoring awards through the corporation. A committee of college admissions officers and school counselors chose the winners based on their application information.

Winners are named in each state in proportion to the state's share of U.S. graduating seniors. According to the corporation, these winners "are the Finalists in each state judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies." Students may use the one-time scholarships at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university.

Virginia had 71 scholarship winners, 15 of whom live in McLean and two of whom live in Great Falls.

The scholarship winners who live in McLean are:

Jackson C. Baldrate

• Gonzaga College High School in D.C.
• Probable career field: Economics

Robert DeMartino

• Basis Independent
• Probable career field: Computer Science

Benjamin Joel

• Potomac School
• Probable career field: Entrepreneurship

Timothy Johanson

• Thomas Jefferson High School For Science and Technology
• Probable career field: Chemistry

Taein Kim

• Thomas Jefferson High School For Science and Technology
• Probable career field: Computer Science

Dominic J. King

• Bishop O'Connell High School in Arlington
• Probable career field: Computer Science

Stephanie Ma

• Langley High School
• Probable career field: Civil Engineering

Alexander D. Pomper

• Langley High School
• Probable career field: Science/Research

Kozmo Rhyu

• St. Albans School in D.C.
• Probable career field: Business

Anisha Talreja

• Thomas Jefferson High School For Science and Technology
• Probable career field: Business

Patrick Foran Wolff

• Potomac School
• Probable career field: Social Science

Emma Yang

• McLean High School
• Probable career field: Medicine

Olivia Zhang

• McLean High School
• Probable career field: Public Health

Isabella Xindi Zhu

• Thomas Jefferson High School For Science and Technology
• Probable career field: Computer Science

Lilian Zhu

• Thomas Jefferson High School For Science and Technology
• Probable career field: Economics

The scholarship winners who live in Great Falls are:

Josephine Amspaugh

• Langley High School
• Probable career field: Neuroscience

Angela J. Zhang

• Thomas Jefferson High School For Science and Technology
• Probable career field: Computer Science

These winners joined around 840 corporate-sponsored scholarship recipients named in April. These scholarships were sponsored by about 107 corporations, company foundations and other business organizations and typically go to National Merit Scholarship finalists who are employees' children or students pursuing college studies or careers that the sponsor wants to support.

On June 7 and July 10, more scholarship recipients will be announced. Around 3,800 students will receive these college-sponsored Merit Scholarship winners.

In all, over 7,140 high school students will be awarded approximately $28 million in National Merit Scholarships this year.

Students were entered into the National Merit Scholarship competition as juniors taking the PSAT in 2021. In September 2022, around 16,000 semifinalists were named based on each state's proportion of graduating seniors. Semifinalists were the top scoring entrants in their states and represent less than 1 percent of seniors in the U.S.

To be considered for finalist status, semifinalists had to submit a detailed scholarship application with an essay and details on extracurricular activities, awards, and leadership positions as well as demonstrate an outstanding academic record and have an endorsement from a high school official. Around 15,000 finalists met requirements for finalists status and were eligible to be chosen for corporate-sponsored, National Merit Scholarship-sponsored and college-sponsored awards.