Scenes from Skyline High School’s 2023 commencement at Eastern Michigan University’s George Gervin GameAbove Center in Ypsilanti on Monday, June 5, 2023. Several students from Ann Arbor were among the 72 National Merit Scholars in Michigan for 2025. (MLive file photo).Sydney Verlinde | MLive.com
More than 70 students across Michigan have been named National Merit Scholarship winners for 2025.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced on Wednesday, May 7, that 2,500 across the U.S. has been formally recognized as a merit scholar from among 15,000 finalists in this year’s program.
According to a news release, National Merit Scholars earn a $2,500 scholarship based on having the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills and potential for success in rigorous college studies.
The number of winners in each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the nation’s graduating high school seniors. The number of 12th-graders across Michigan was last counted at close to 111,500, according to the state’s student enrollment report for fall 2024-25.
Read more: 20 Michigan students win big corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarships
The 72 merit scholars in Michigan were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors who appraised information from the finalists and their schools.
That includes their academic record and difficulty level of studied subjects, grades earned, scores on the PSAT or National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, contributions and leadership in school and community activities, an essay, and a written recommendation from a high school official.
The scholarship corporation reports financing most of the single-payment $2,500 scholarships. Donations are made to the corporation president’s fund, and scholars may use the award at any regionally accredited college or university in the U.S.
This year’s scholarship process began in October 2023 when high school juniors took the PSAT. Then, last fall, the highest-scoring participants in each state, representing less than 1% of the country’s high school seniors, were named semifinalists.
Read more: 10% of Michigan’s National Merit Scholarship semifinalists are from Ann Arbor
More than 16,000 semifinalists had the opportunity to continue in the competition.
From the semifinalist group, the 15,000 students moved forward to the finalist level.
By the end of the program, more than 6,930 students had earned the merit scholar title, receiving close to $26 million in college scholarships.
The following are the scholarship recipients based on their place of residence.
Ada
Emilio Hernandez-Martinez, Forest Hills Northern High School
Ann Arbor
Ronak K. Ailawadi, Skyline High School
Arjun A. Alva, Skyline High School
Sophie Erb-Watson, Greenhills School
Arella He, Pioneer High School
Weiran Alice Jiang, Saline High School
Grace Marie Liu, Greenhills School
Claire Y. Wang, Huron High School
Leland R. Weiser, Skyline High School
Belmont
Isaac J. Wright, Rockford High School
Bloomfield Hills
Chloe Qin, Cranbrook Kingswood School
Saahith Reddy, Detroit Country Day School
Oriana Shi, Cranbrook Kingswood School
Aaron Wang, Cranbrook Kingswood School
Bloomfield Township
Aidan Y. Sun, Bloomfield Hills High School
Byron Center
Zachary R. Harvey, Sacred Heart Academy
Isaac E. Pazdur, homeschooled/online school
Cadillac
Genesis Wilson, McBain High School
Canton
Shourik Das, Canton High School
Dhruv V. Hegde, Salem High School
Simran K. Kapoor, Washtenaw International High School
Rohit Mahesh, Salem High School
Suraj Makunur, International Academy
Kalp Shah, International Academy
Hannah Thomas, Canton High School
Chelsea
Luke K. Mourad, Chelsea High School
Clarkston
Abigail Finnerty, Clarkston High School
Clinton
Katelyn R. Baker, Clinton High School
Detroit
Harper Kennedy, Cranbrook Kingswood School
Farmington
Amrita Renduchintala, Farmington High School
Farmington Hills
Zainab Ahmed, Farmington High School
Akshay Kumar, Farmington High School
Garden City
Gavin E. Bender, Garden City High School
Grand Rapids
Henry H. Snow, Grand Rapids Christian High School
Grosse Pointe Farms
Adelina E. Parikh, Grosse Pointe South High School
Holland
Mary Catherine Leahy, Black River High School
Jenison
Bomin Koo, Jenison high School
Mattawan
Sophie P. Roberts, Mattawan High School
Midland
Chuyan Zhang, Cranbrook Kingswood School
Milford
Christopher M. Purdy, International Academy
Muskegon
Elijah John Hulka, Fruitport High School
Lydia Shi, Fruitport High School
Northville
David Fahim, Northville High School
Valencia Melody Zhang, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA
Novi
Deepshika Jois, Novi High School
Maxwell Li, Novi High School
Ishaan Sid, Novi High School
Esha Sopory, Novi High School
Vidya Sree Vuyyuru, Walled Lake Wester High School
Hansitha Yarabarla Novi High School
Okemos
Yenna Park, Cranbrook Kingswood School
Yoseph A. Verevko, Okemos High School
Plymouth
Caleb Carothers, homeschooled/online school
Rochester
Jay P. Modi, Rochester Adams High School
Rochester Hills
Minjun Kim, International Academy
Sanjith Sambath, International Academy
Vineet Saravanan, Cranbrook Kingswood School
Shelby Township
Adeline M. Paul, Utica Academy for International Studies
St. Joseph
Hannah Hysell, Lake Michigan Catholic High School
Braden Miesse, St. Joseph High School
Traverse City
Madeline Bildeaux, Traverse City West High School (honorary recipient)
Troy
Emily Joy Fry, homeschooled/online school
Erin Jeong, Troy High School
Henry Jiang, Detroit Country Day School
Jeffrey Kim, Troy High School
Michael Li, Troy High School
Ethan Liu, Athens High School
Ryan Ruien Wang, Troy High School
Jessica Wu, Troy High School
West Bloomfield
Harshitha Sankaranarayanan, West Bloomfield High School
Alexander Richard Wszolek, West Bloomfield High School
Zeeland
Charles Patrick Reese, Zeeland East High School
If you would like more reporting like this delivered free to your inbox, click here and signup for our weekly newsletter: Michigan Schools.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, (updated 8/1/2024) and acknowledgement of our Privacy Policy, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (updated 1/1/2025).
© 2025 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us).
The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local.
Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site.
YouTube's privacy policy is available here and YouTube's terms of service is available here.
Ad Choices
