NEWS Walnut Valley Unified School District
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 880 S. Lemon Avenue
May 4, 2012 Walnut, CA 91789
Contact:
Kelli Gile, Office of Community Resources
(909) 595-1261 ext. 31204
WVUSD National Merit® $2500 Scholarship Winners Named
WALNUT, CA--Congratulations to two Walnut Valley Unified School District seniors named National Merit $2500 Scholarship winners.
Richard Koh from Diamond Bar High and Brittany Tsou from Walnut High are among 2,500 Merit Scholar designees chosen from more than 15,000 outstanding Finalists in the 2012 National Merit Scholarship Program.
National Merit $2500 Scholarship winners are the Finalists in each state judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies. The announcement was made on May 2 by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (nmsc).
The finalists are judged on their academic record, scores from two standardized tests, contributions and leadership in school and community activities, an essay submitted, and a recommendation by a high school official.
The awards can be used at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university.
This year’s competition began in October 2010 when around 1.5 million juniors from 22,000 high schools took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test used to screen program entrants.
Last fall, the 16,000 semifinalists were named. Of that group, 15,000 students advanced to the finalist level. By the end of the 2012 program, around 8,300 finalists will have earned the title of “Merit Scholar” and received a total of more than $35 million in college scholarships.
The nmsc will finance most of the National Merit $2500 Scholarships. Corporations and company foundations that sponsor awards through nmsc also help underwrite these scholarships with grants they provide in lieu of paying administrative fees