The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced that five Loudoun County Public Schools students are recipients of college-sponsored awards. NMSC announced these award winners in separate announcements on June 4 and July 14.
The LCPS students who received College-sponsored National Merit Scholarships are:
Siona Bhardwaj of Independence High School, who received a scholarship from the University of South Florida, plans to study medicine.
Mavita Kancharla of John Champe High School, who received a scholarship from Purdue University, plans to study computer science.
Eric L. Kendall of Briar Woods High School, who received a scholarship from the University of Alabama, plans to study finance.
Siddarth R. Kumar of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, who received a scholarship from Purdue University, plans to study aerospace engineering.
Harry O. Yoon of Dominion High School, who received a scholarship from the University of Tulsa, plans to study medicine.
These five students are among more than 3,600 finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program who received scholarships from the colleges they plan to attend. College-sponsored awards provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution financing the scholarship.
In total, 18 LCPS students won National Merit Scholarships during the 2024/25 school year. In addition to the five students who won college-sponsored scholarships, eleven LCPS students were named National Merit $2,500 Scholarship winners, and two LCPS students received corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarships.
This year’s competition for National Merit Scholarships began when high school juniors took the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. In September 2024, more than 16,000 semifinalists were named 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 become a finalist, each semifinalist had to complete a detailed scholarship application, which included writing an essay, describing leadership positions and contributions in school and community activities, showing an outstanding academic record, and being endorsed and recommended by a high school official. Semifinalists also had to take the SAT or ACT and earn scores that confirmed their performance on the initial qualifying test. From the semifinalist group, over 15,000 attained finalist standing, and about half of the finalists were chosen to receive National Merit Scholarships.
NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was founded in 1955 to conduct the National Merit Scholarship Program. Over the past 70 years, approximately 389,000 outstanding young individuals have won National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $1.4 billion. The majority of awards offered each year are underwritten by approximately 280 independent corporate and college sponsors that support NMSC’s efforts to recognize scholastically talented youth and encourage the pursuit of academic excellence.