PARSIPPANY, NJ — A Parsippany native is one of more than 60 high school seniors in New Jersey who will receive a $2,500 National Merit scholarship towards their college education.
Students become eligible based on their PSAT scores, and then submit an essay, recommendations, grades, and other materials to make the final rounds of consideration.
Some winners receive a scholarship from a corporation, and others receive a $2,500 amount from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation itself.
Parsippany’s Keshav B. Sheth, who attends Morris Hills High School and is planning to study engineering in college, is one of the recipients. Two other Morris Hills students are among this select group of scholars: Kevin Yu Kai Chen of Pine Brook, and Syon Gupta of Randolph.
There are 2,500 winners of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation’s $2,500 awards, which are sponsored from its own funds with some corporate sponsors providing grants. A committee of college admissions officers and school counselors select the winners based on their application information.
In September, more than 16,000 semifinalists were selected on the basis of their PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test scores. To advance to the finalist round, semifinalists needed to have an outstanding academic record, be endorsed or recommended by a high school official, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm their qualifying test performance.
Winners are named in each state in proportion to the state’s share of U.S. graduating seniors. According to the corporation, these winners “are the Finalists in each state judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies.” Students may use the one-time scholarships at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university.
These winners joined around 770 corporate-sponsored scholarship recipients named in April. These scholarships were sponsored by corporations, company foundations and other business organizations and typically go to National Merit Scholarship finalists who are employees’ children or students pursuing college studies or careers that the sponsor wants to support.
On June 5 and July 15, more scholarship recipients will be announced. Around 3,600 students will receive these college-sponsored Merit Scholarship winners.
In all, over 6,870 high school students will be awarded approximately $26 million in National Merit Scholarships this year.
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