Local Semifinalists named for the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program

National Merit Scholarship Corp. officials recently announced the names of approximately 16,000 Semifinalists in the 66th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $30 million that will be offered next spring.

To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition.

Over 90 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and more than half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.

This nonprofit organization, which operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 400 business organizations and higher education institutions that share NMSC's goals of honoring the nation's scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.

Over 1.5 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2019 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state's percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.

To become a Finalist, the Semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the Semifinalist's academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. A Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, and write an essay.

From the approximately 16,000 Semifinalists, about 15,000 are expected to advance to the Finalist level, and in February they will be notified of this designation. All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from this group of Finalists. Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference.

Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2021. Every Finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $2500 Scholarships that will be awarded on a state-representational basis. About 1,000 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 220 corporations and business organizations for Finalists who meet their specified criteria, such as children of the grantor's employees or residents of communities where sponsor plants or offices are located. In addition, about 180 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 4,100 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for Finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.

Addison

Addison Trail High School:

Ali Fawzan

Algonquin

Jacobs High School:

Matthew H. Flondro and Kris V. Shah

Arlington Heights

John Hersey High School:

Susan M. Byrom, Samantha W. Corley, Maxtan E. Huynh, Patrick R. Klem, Sophianne S. Loh, Alexander R. Nowak and Nathan N. Reed

St. Viator High School:

Olivia G. Gauthier and Kathleen M. Hannon

Aurora

Aurora Christian Schools:

Rachel B. Klumpp

Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy:

Muyiwa Arowolo, Brooke R. Bolsinger, Delicia L. Chen, Archan Das, Zachary S. Eness, Isabella G. Foes, Chandra L. Gangavarapu, Jonathan Gao, Rachna Gupta, Shrutika Gupta, Ellyn Y. Hu, Yaejoon Hyoung, Eugene Y. Lim, Cynthia X. Mu, Siva Nalabothu, Krisha T. Patel, Philip N. Paulson, Akul S. Prakash, Prarthana Prashanth, Emily Shao, Fania A. Si, Heldanna Solomon, Kodai Speich, Devraj Thakkar, Michael A. Trombetta, Eva H. Tuecke, Sachin Vijayaraj, Arthur Wang, Benjamin Weber, Wyatt O. Wren, and Hannah L. Xu

Marmion Academy:

Ryan M. Bennett and Nicholas M. Wilson

Metea Valley High School:

Vinay Agrawal, Chinmay C. Bhogilal, Rhea S. Joshi, Sean Lu, Thomas R. Maxon, Sannidhi Mohan, Kishor N. Moorthy, Udit U. Pai, and Yash S. Telang

Waubonsie Valley High School:

Subul Ahmad, Juliana N. Canham, Manav Davis, Krish V. Desai, Nabeeha S. Khan, Arnav Khanna, Vinay Pai, Amogh Parmeswaran, Christopher M. Portanova, Brindet Socrates, Karthikeyan Srinivasan, and Daniel R. Treuhaft

Barrington

Barrington Community High School:

Martha L. Abrahamson, Jacob A. Devadas, Emma P. Glenn, George W. Gong, Sarah Huang, Ashwin Kasargode, Om A. Kolhe, Matthew W. Lee, Andrew P. Moritz, Aryan J. Nambiar, Saharsh Narayanam, Joseph A. Nepomuceno, Austin C. Nye, Sofia M. Rodriguez, Liam J. Starnes, Roseanne O. Strategos, Keegan M. Teal, Bryce W. Vist, and Isabella C. White

Batavia

Batavia High School:

Ellen M. Chlachidze, Alexander N. Holzman and Lauren P. Zeilstra

Bolingbrook

Bolingbrook High School:

David S. Whatcott and Annabeth Yeung

Buffalo Grove

Buffalo Grove High School:

Jillian E. Dombroski and Sydney C. Paunan

Carol Stream

Glenbard North High School:

Mitchell J. Oinonen and Vinay Varghese Vellara

Crystal Lake

Crystal Lake Central High School:

Henry P. Ryerson

Crystal Lake South High School:

Alexander A. Kitchen

Prairie Ridge High School:

Maxwell J. Beck, Lucas J. Kim and Sajiv A. Shah

Darien

Hinsdale South High School:

Carson D. Kotecki, Bryn E. Larson, and Dhruv Vaze

Deerfield

Deerfield High School:

Zachary A. Ambrose, Emily B. Carlin, Jackson M. Delariman, Ezra N. Horton, Hayden M. Katz, Aidan M. Morrison, Andrew J. Osborn, Peter D. Reynolds, and Rebecca H. Shamberg

Rochelle Zell Jewish High School:

Joseph F. Eisenberg

Des Plaines

Maine West High School:

Ann M. Kalena

Downers Grove

Downers Grove North High School:

Justin B. Berghorst, Carissa N. Blumka and Madeline N. Naisbitt

Downers Grove South High School:

Luc A. Alvarez, Dyanna J. Boone, Jacob O. Poeschel, Christopher F. Sapinski, and Jonah J. Sprandel

Elgin

Homeschool:

Matthew S. Awdisho

Elk Grove Village

Elk Grove High School:

Kaylyn S. Ahn and Brayden M. Bobowski

Elmhurst

Timothy Christian High School:

Lauren T. Ellens, Joshua H. Pae and Alexander Zeilstra

York Community High School:

Samuel L. Ayers, Zoe E. Burkhardt, Jake M. Downey, Evan T. Frank, James D. Golen, Serena M. Jobi, and Adrian Zhuang

Evanston

Beacon Academy:

Camilla J. Mancini

Evanston Township High School:

Zachary C. Bahar, Benjamin S. Barbaro, Celia J. Chambers, Ian B. Dunbar, Alexander T. Johnson, Madeline G. Rodriguez, Ezra L. Steinberg, and Anna H. Taufen

Geneva

Geneva Community High School:

Evan D. Horvath and Nathaniel P. Marcelo

Glen Ellyn

Glenbard West High School:

Nikola M. Jukic, Gavin J. Schilling, Maya L. Umlauf, and Zoe S. Umlauf

Glenview

Glenbrook South High School:

Grace E. Diehl, Katherine M. Durow, Elizabeth D. Finley, Hannah Jon, Garrett R. Kramme, Thomas W. Marquardt, Kelly B. Ryan, Maia K. Schwallie, and Noah W. Walch

Grayslake

Grayslake Central High School:

Andrew A. Oelschlager

Gurnee

Warren Township High School:

Yuvraj Chauhan, Lucinda P. Damon-Davis, Kevin T. Goger, Bradley E. Strauss, and Olivia M. Wong

Highland Park

Highland Park High School:

Olivia R. Annes, Kevin B. Beck, Irene E. Gehrig, Eli Y. Gidron, Robert S. Hochstadt, Caitlin J. Hong, James D. Lovell, Sarah G. Sarowitz, and Andrew E. Schaumberger

Hinsdale

Hinsdale Central High School:

Chloe M. Attlan, Aryan Bahl, Dov Chen, Qing Dang, Kai W. Dubauskas, Mikhail Essa, Amer K. Goel, Ethan M. Greenwald, Ajay Jejurikar, Yahya Junejo, Thomas H. Kusak, Sidh Leekha, Henning I. Ley, Marit E. Ley, Joseph F. Marek, Sean Millman, Kaitlin Mrksich, Benjamin P. Newton, Derek Song, John J. Tischke, Jessie Z. Wang, Katherine J. Wilson, Aileen Y. Yang and Kaitlyn Y. Zhu

Hoffman Estates

James B. Conant High School:

Nicholas K. Chen, Martin G. Ferris, Jennifer R. Nelson, Sanjana Rajesh, Matthew D. Schmitt

Huntley

Huntley High School:

Ty B. Clements, Talia G. Duffy, Ethan T. Faubl, and Iniya Murugasamy

Lake Forest

Lake Forest Academy:

Maxwell Collins, Justin Y. Hwang and Calvin S. Osborne

Lake Forest High School

Mary A. Clayton, Daisy J. Connery, Davis C. Gramza, Helene L. Gu, Colin C. Kingsley, Kathryn J. Li, Margot F. Pierce, and Andrew L. Wehmeyer

Lake in the Hills

Homeschool:

Tomas Salgado

Lake Villa

Lakes Community High School:

Lucas N. Holler and Benjamin L. Schneiderheinze

Lake Zurich

Lake Zurich High School:

Justin M. Kutsor, Brittany A. Rogus and Caroline Sun

Libertyville

Libertyville High School:

Andrew J. Clark, Leah G. Kline, Jamie V. Nicholson, Desigamoorthy Shanmuganathan Naina, Matthew B. Shinnick, Mary-Kate L. Stone, Liam E. Tucker, John V. Wilcox, and Jonathan S. Zhang

Lincolnshire:

Adlai E. Stevenson High School:

Zeeshan K. Aamer, Heather T. Acuna, Eshaan Agarwal, Christina Alexakos, Alex Bai, Aarthi Balaji, Shishir Bandapalli, Richard Bi, Jonathan J. Chan, Justin J. Chen, Jennifer Cheng, Rishika Chikoti, Joseph E. Connolly, Aniket P. Dixit, Kelly L. Dong, Carson Q. Ezell, Hayden J. Gantt, Max F. Goldstein, Thomas R. Gong, David L. Gorin, Allen Guo, Jeanette X. Han, Dylan J. Heydenburg, Edward S. Kang, Andrew D. Kim, Michael D. Kim, Yumin Kim, Daichi Kobayashi, Sofia A. Kolobaev, Joo Eun Kwon, Jeremiah D. Lee, Katie Lee, Sohyun Lee, Su-Hyun E. Lee, Sean Y. Li, Sophia Y. Li, Anthony H. Lin, Lily Ma, Jared B. Machtinger, Elizabeth L. Matlin, Liana J. McGhee, Prathinav S. Merneedi, Sneha Mohan, Abhinav Murthy, Arjun Nageswaran, Sailaja Nallacheruvu, Wesley T. Park, Sayalee N. Patankar, Krishna Patel, Nathaniel E. Pedigo, Lily R. Pegg, Ram R. Potham, William L. Rademacher, Nikhith Rao, Praneet Rathi, Laya P. Reddy, Isha Rustagi, Ojasvi Saxena, Daniel G. Thomas, Jason D. Topolski, David R. Wallach, Connor M. Wang, Faith Wang, Phyllis J. Wang, Katherine Y. Wu, Ryan Z. Yao, and Maristella Yim

Lisle

Benet Academy:

Christine E. Budd, Jack M. Horvath, Tasha P. Rustandi, and Katie M. Testin

Lisle High School:

Jay S. Mutum

Lombard

College Preparatory School of America:

Saalih Abdul-Salam, Idrees S. Mohammed and Hamid Mohiuddin

Glenbard East High School:

Ali R Siddiqui

Mount Prospect

Prospect High School:

Madison E. Baysingar, Felix K. Garkisch, Mary Catherine Hanafee Laplante, Richard A. Lytle, and Claudia L. Madsen

Mundelein

Carmel Catholic High School:

William J. De Keyser and Lauren E. Kelley

Naperville

Homeschool:

Addison M. Heffron

Naperville Central High School:

Thrisha Bandepallee, Nicholas Bird, Andrea Brewe, Alicia Chen, Aastha Chouhan, Elliott Clements, Michael Deng, Steven Desch, Dane Engman, Aiden Fockens, Arthur Graham, Braden Hajer, Maya Kathinokkula, Simeon Lee, Kate Li, Elizabeth Liu, William Ma, Amisha Sethi, Anna Sonnenschein, Paari Thanikachalam, David Wang, Ziyin Wang, Colin Yao, Brandon Zhang and Jasmine Zhang

Naperville North High School:

Luca I. Bolla, Skyler Y. Kahng, Jubin Kim, Judson Lam, Maisie C. Li, David J. Mengel, Holden S. Mui, Alayna M. Nguyen, Owen B. O'Brien, Asha D. Rajagopal, Eron P. Ristich, Arjun R. Shah, Rachel Z. Shi, Randall Shobert, Janelle M. Smith, Aditya B. Tolia, Katherine R. Watson, Wyatt J. Woker, Geoffrey Wu, Eva A. Yang, Rachel L. Yao, Irene Y. Zhang and Emily X. Zhao

Neuqua Valley High School:

Pranav Addepalli, Amir Aliyev, Aayush Bharadwaj, Anjana Bharadwaj, Elaine E. Carroll, Neema Darabi, Sai S. Dasari, Brandon M. Do, Rachel E. Druce-Hoffman, William S. Fu, Nadun D. Gajapala, Mansi M. Gupta, Sameer Jain, Rohan Jaiswal, Piper B. Jourdan, George Liu, Nishikar Paruchuri, Mrinal Pattanaik, Megan S. Rajan, Caroline E. Reynolds, Saloni M. Vaishnav, Lauren M. Wittry, Michael Wu, Ian H. Zhang and Helen Y. Zhao

Niles

Notre Dame College Prep:

Anthony Esposito

Northbrook

Glenbrook North High School:

Anna Alava, Peter P. Bazianos, Justin Cheon, Jack M. Diaz, Hannah C. Foster, Mark N. Glinberg, Daniel K. Kim, Hyun M. Kim, Abigail E. Knebelkamp, Henry L. Seiden, Ethan Y. Seo, Stephen D. Vasiljevic, Songyu Ye, and Angela M. Zhao

Northfield

Christian Heritage Academy:

Megan J. Ng

Palatine

Fremd High School:

Nathan A. Arango, Ysabelle F. Buenavista, Cara A. Chang, Stella J. Chung, Gabriel K. Classon, Joshua P. Corrigan, Manas P Gandhi, Natalia M. Gorecki, Allison Y. Kao, Anshul Kaushik, Sravya Konasani, Ethan Lin, Michelle Liu, Angela Ma, Mahima Malhotra, Gavin K. McCarthy, Gwendolyn R. Nicketta, David D. Phillips, Jessica W. Rao, Sufiya M. Shazia, Rachel Ye, Angelina J. Zheng and William Zhong

Palatine High School:

MaryEtta M. Brigham

Park Ridge

Maine East High School:

Isabella Piekut and Nicole Piekut

Maine South High School:

Jessica M. Beck, Eric J. Biedke, Eamon J. Brady, Elizabeth M. Compton, Alexander C. Heinz, Joseph P. Kinnavy, Monica V. Milanowski, Mia P. Pomilia, Jonathan R. Spychalski and Anna G. Wapner

Roselle

Lake Park High School:

Aliana Y. Kaige, Gabrielle M. Mintrup and Abhi S. Patel

Schaumburg

Schaumburg High School:

Mia L. Vollkommer

St. Charles

St. Charles East High School:

Shae Atkins, Henry B. Nunns and Aidan Szuch

St. Charles North High School:

Brett Barnes, Ryan Forester, Nathan Hanselman, Grace Lucchesi, Anastasia N. Smith-Becker, and Riley G. Trendler

Vernon Hills

Vernon Hills High School:

Bradley R. Auw, Lisa A. Boehmer, Chantal M. Korde, Niranjan J. Kulkarni, Aryav Panda, Eric H. Song, and Ashley M. Ziegler

Villa Park

Willowbrook High School:

Caitlin Brennan

West Chicago

Wheaton Academy:

Miriam G. Buursma, Robert Dieter, Ellen Shales, Valerie Terdina, Joseph E. Wang, and Jacob Williams

Westmont

Westmont High School:

Marina O'Malley

Wheaton

St. Francis High School:

John P. Andrzejewski and Aiden J. Benson

Wheaton North High School:

Emma G. Simpson, Samuel S. Walhout, and Benjamin D. Zimmerman

Wheaton Warrenville South High School:

Paul C. Choi and Jeremy K. Illut

Wheeling

Wheeling High School:

Miranda R. Lawson

Wilmette

Loyola Academy:

Charles Radtke

Winnetka

New Trier Township High School:

Vivian R. Adelman, Frederick Crone, Taylor M. Daniels, Silpol Dhiantravan, James Donnelly, Liam Donohoe, Christina R. Fahmy, Hailey M. Fitzsimmons, Alexander E. Gordon, Paul M. Graham, Jacob F. Hahn, Isabelle D. Hester, Alice Hu, Ryan C. Kennedy, Maximus J. Leibov, Eric Liu, Linnea R. Mason, Emilia T. McDougal, Russell W. McGrath, Isaac A. Moore, Julia A. Nelson, Ava N. Nemerovski, Finnian D. Patten, Ian X. Quan, Ryan D. Rittner, Louis J. Scheinfeld, Thomas S. Schindler, Mia Sedgwick, Brian Shen, Benjamin D. Steigmann, Eleanor A. Winkler, and Benjamin M. Worth

North Shore Country Day School:

Jacob Sherman

Woodstock

Woodstock North High School:

Jason F. Thurow