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4-22-2026 12:41am
Westwood, Medfield High School Students Named as National Merit Scholarship Recipients in First Round of Awards
Darlene Cancell
Editor
Two students from Westwood High School Medfield High School have been announced on April 22 to be among a select group of high school seniors - 15 from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and approximately 700 nationwide - in the first group of winners in the 71st annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
According to an announcement by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation:
- Kabir Devgan of Westwood High School is recipient of a scholarship sponsored by Emerson Electric Company. His probable career field is listed as undecided.
- Samuel George of Medfield High School is recipient of the AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals-sponsored Merit Scholarship. His probable career field is listed as business economics.
Other scholarship recipients from the local area around Westwood in this first round of announcements include:
- Fedor Myshkin of Milton High School who is recipient of the Johnson & Johnson-sponsored Merit Scholarship with a probable career field of chemical engineering; and
- Anish Sankar of Wellesley High School who is recipient of the Nationwide Foundation sponsored Merit Scholarship with a probable career field of academia.
Scholarship competitors are selected from the highest-scoring Preliminary SAT (PSAT) test-takers in their junior year of high school. Those high scoring juniors must also have outstanding academic records to become semifinalists. They apply for finalist standing by completing a detailed application that includes an essay and information about activities, awards, and leadership positions. They must be endorsed and recommended by a high school official and have earned SAT or ACT scores that confirm their PSAT performance.
Each year, there are several rounds of National Merit Scholarship awards. By the end of the 2026 National Merit Scholarship competition, about 6,700 finalists are expected to receive scholarships totaling almost $24 million, nationwide.
Awards can take the form of a single payment of $2,500 to $10,000, or they can be renewable annually for four years of undergraduate study in amounts that range from $1,000 to $10,000 per year. Recipients can use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university they choose.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation is a not-for-profit organization established in 1955 which administers the scholarship program to honor the nation's scholastically talented youth each year. It offers scholarship awards to encourage academic excellence among finalist candidates who are judged to have the strongest combination of academic skills and achievements, extracurricular accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies.
