Friday, May 16, 2025
Competing against some 15,000 other finalists, one Simi Valley Unified School District senior has won a National Merit Scholarship.
Advaith Nair of Santa Susana High School was selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors as the winner of a $2,500 scholarship.
In addition to being a National Merit Scholar, Advaith currently serves as chair of the Simi Valley Youth Council and as president of the Santa Susana High chapter of the California Scholarship Federation.
Merit scholarship winners were judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills and potential for success in rigorous college studies.
Committee members considered students’ academic records, including difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned; scores from the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test; contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essay written by the student and a recommendation written by a high school official.
Last fall, the highest-scoring PSAT students in each state, representing less than one percent of the nation’s high school seniors, were named semifinalists on a state-representational basis. More than 16,000 semifinalists had an opportunity to continue in the competition. From the semifinalist group, more than
15,000 students met the very high academic standards and other requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition. By the conclusion of the 2025 program, more than 6,930 finalists will have earned the “Merit Scholar” title and received a total of nearly $26 million in college scholarships.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, announced scholarship winners May 7.
—Acorn staff report
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