EVANSTON, Ill. — National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced on May 6 this year’s National Merit $2,500 Scholarship winners.
The designees were chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 outstanding finalists in the 2015 National Merit Scholarship Program.
National Merit $2,500 Scholarship winners are the finalists in each state judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies. The number of winners named in each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the nation’s graduating high school seniors.
These scholars were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors, who appraised a substantial amount of information submitted by both the finalists and their high schools: the academic record, including difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned; scores from two standardized tests; contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essay written by the finalist; and a recommendation written by a high school official.
California recipients include:
• Jasper K. Miura of Fair Oaks, a student at Mira Loma High School in Sacramento. Probable career field: engineering.
• Brendan M. Watamura of Visalia, a student at Redwood High School in Visalia. Probable career field: computer engineering.
• Grace Sanae Fujii of Yuba City, a student at Yuba City High School in Yuba City. Probable career field: undecided.
On April 22, NMSC released the names of the first group of winners in the 60th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. More than 1,000 distinguished high school seniors have won corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship awards financed by about 200 corporations, company foundations, and other business organizations.
Scholars were selected from students who advanced to the finalist level in the National Merit Scholarship competition and met criteria of their scholarship sponsors. Corporate sponsors provide scholarships for finalists who are children of their employees, who are residents of communities the company serves, or who plan to pursue college majors or careers the sponsor wishes to encourage.
Most of these awards are renewable for up to four years of college undergraduate study and provide annual stipends that range from $500 to $10,000 per year. Some provide a single payment between $2,500 and $5,000. Recipients can use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university of their choice.
California recipients include:
• Jackson D. Nagamoto of Newbury Park, a student at Newbury High School in Newbury Park. Probable career field: medicine.
He received the National Merit Automatic Data Processing Inc. Henry Taub Memorial Scholarship. ADP, with over $7 billion in revenues and 500,000 clients, is one of the nation’s largest independent computing services. Merit Scholarship awards are funded by the ADP Foundation for the children of ADP employees.
For more information on the scholarship program, visit www.nationalmerit.org.