Franklin Students Selected For $2500 National Merit Scholarship

FRANKLIN, WI — Two Franklin High School students were selected on Wednesday to receive a $2500 National Merit scholarship, according to a news release from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

The Franklin students are among 2500 high school students across the country who were selected for the honor out of a pool of 15,000 finalists. Those who receive the scholarships were judged to have the strongest mixture of skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college courses, according to a news release from the NMSC.

A committee made up of high school counselors and college admissions officers judged students based on the information that was submitted by the finalists and their respective high schools. That information included academic records, the difficulty of courses, grades earned, scores from the preliminary SAT, an essay the student wrote, a recommendation from a high school official, and leadership contributions the student made in school and in the community, according to the news release.

Here's who won the scholarships at Franklin High School:

• Pallavi Kandipati, who may go into a career in medicine.
• Shriya Punati, who may go into a career in medicine.

Wednesday's announcement is the second round of winners in the 2022 National Merit program. By year's end, about 7,500 students are expected to have won $28 million in scholarships.