LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA — Four Loudoun County students are in the latest round of National Merit Scholarships, which were funded by colleges and universities.
There are more than 2,900 winners of college-sponsored National Merit Scholarships. The awards are underwritten by 149 higher education institutions, including 77 private and 72 public institutions in 42 states and the District of Columbia. Scholarships range from $500 to $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution financing the award.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced 770 corporate-sponsored scholarship winners on April 24 and 2,500 National Merit $2500 Scholarship winners on May 8. Additional college-sponsored award winners will be announced on July 15, bringing the college-sponsored scholarship total to over 3,600.
Overall, more than 6,870 students will earn National Merit Scholarships worth about $26 million in. 2024.
Virginia had 26 college-sponsored National Merit Scholarship winners. Loudoun County winners include Katrina U. Boland of Aldie attending St. Paul VI Catholic High School, Sasanka Sreedevi-Naresh of Ashburn attending Briar Woods High School, Brij B. Bhagat of Leesburg attending Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, and Alexandra H. Knight of Purcellville, who is homeschooled.
Boland received the scholarship from Purdue University and plans to study aerospace engineering.
Sreedevi-Naresh got the scholarship from University of Maryland and intends to study biomedical engineering.
Bhagat received a scholarship from University of Texas at Dallas and plans to study mechanical engineering.
Knight earned a scholarship from Liberty University and plans to study biochemistry.
Students were entered into the National Merit Scholarship competition while taking the PSAT as juniors in 2022. Around 16,000 semifinalists were named based on each state’s proportion of graduating seniors. Semifinalists were the top scoring students in their states and represent less than 1 percent of seniors in the U.S.
To be eligible 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. About half of finalists will win National Merit Scholarships in 2024.
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