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7-16-2024 12:05am
5 Local Students Announced as Winners in Last Cycle of National Merit Scholarship Awards
Darlene Cancell
Editor
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation on July 15th announced a list of 23 students from Massachusetts who are National Merit Scholarship award designees, and 5 of them are local, Westwood area students. The select group is part of a larger group of 800 students nationally who have been announced as winners in this last of four 2024 NMSC scholarship award cycles.
NSMC selected the following local students as winners, based on their individual showings of academic ability and potential for success in college studies:
- Matthew B. Lopez of East Walpole is the designee of the National Merit Northeastern University Scholarship. Lopez attends Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood. Probable career field: computer science.
- Isaac Jacob Tsymberov of Sharon is the designee of the National Merit Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Scholarship. Tsymberov attends Sharon High School. Probable career field: aerospace engineering.
- Kaloyan K. Draganov of Wellesley is the designee of the National Merit Northeastern University Scholarship. Draganov attends Wellesley High School. Probable career field: software engineering.
- Charles J. Liebenberg of Wellesley is the designee of the National Merit Northeastern University Scholarship. Liebenberg attends Commonwealth School in Boston. Probable career field: computer science.
- Olivia B. Wang of Wellesley is the designee of the National Merit Tufts University Scholarship. Wang attends the Commonwealth School in Boston. Probable career field: academia.
About half of the nation’s 15,000 National Merit Scholarship finalists were selected to receive National Merit Scholarships. In three prior award cycles for 2024, NMSC announced winners of the scholarships sponsored by corporations, colleges, and NMSC. This July’s final group of winners brings the total nationwide number of 2024 National Merit Scholars to more than 6,900 students. Nationwide, this year's scholarship awards total nearly $26 million.
To become a finalist, students had to achieve high scores on 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) as juniors. The number of semi-finalists from each state were then determined based on the proportion of the state’s graduating high school seniors compared to the number of seniors graduating nationwide. Semi-finalists represented less than one percent of the nation’s seniors.
Following the PSAT/NMSQT screening, semi-finalists confirmed their test performance by taking the ACT or SAT. They wrote essays describing their leadership positions and contributions in school and community, demonstrated outstanding academic records, and were endorsed and recommended by high school officials.
Since 1955, the not-for-profit NMSC has awarded approximately 382,000 National Merit Scholarships worth more than a total of $1.3 billion. The majority of awards have been underwritten by approximately 320 independent corporate and college sponsors. Awards are given to youth who are recognized as scholastically talented, encouraging them to continue pursuing academic excellence.
