Julia VanDyke, a Rockford High School senior, is one of just 20 Michigan students announced in the first round of National Merit Scholarship winners. (Photo provided by Terpstra Studio)Daniel Terpstra
ROCKFORD, MI – Julia VanDyke, a graduating senior at Rockford High School, said her high school career has come with a catchphrase – “just do the math.”
It started as a ninth-grade joke with a friend who asked for help on a math problem, VanDyke said, but became a sort of mantra for her, including when she wasn’t entirely sure how to work through a complex problem.
Now, VanDyke, a passionate student in statistics and computer science, is Rockford’s salutatorian.
She’s also one of just 20 Michigan students announced in the first round of this year’s National Merit Scholarship winners.
Roughly 830 high school seniors won corporate-sponsored scholarship awards from 124 corporations, company foundations and other business organizations across the country, according to a news release on Wednesday, April 23.
RELATED: 20 Michigan students win big corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarships
National Merit Scholars have previously been announced in May, and by the end of the 2025 competition, 6,930 finalists will have been selected to receive National Merit Scholarships totaling nearly $26 million.
VanDyke won the National Merit LPL Financial scholarship, a $1,000 award given annually throughout her four-year college career.
She’ll soon be attending St. Mary’s College in Indiana and working towards a dual degree. VanDyke said that means getting a computer science degree from Notre Dame and a statistics degree from St. Mary’s.
“I really appreciate the opportunity to be a woman who wants to go into computer science,” she said, “that can maybe help other people who are thinking ‘maybe I could do this.’”
National Merit Scholarship recipients are chosen based on standardized test scores, essays, extracurriculars and leadership positions.
In addition to taking Advanced Placement (AP) classes, VanDyke is involved as a senior representative with Rockford High School’s Interact Club, a Rotary-sponsored service club for students.
In addition to helping run fundraising events through the organization, she traveled to El Salvador as part of a group sent to build family housing.
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