2 Albany Students Earn National Merit Scholarships

ALBANY, CA - Two students from Albany learned this week that they’re $2500 Scholarship winners in the prestigious National Merit Scholarship competition.

Earning the scholarships are:

• Fengyao Ding attends Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. Ding’s expected career field is mathematics
• Alyssa C. Li, who attends Albany High School, is also expected to choose a career in mathematics

Sign up for the Albany Patch newsletter!

Just 2,500 Merit Scholars were chosen from more than 15,000 finalists.

This year’s competition began in October 2014 when over 1.5 million juniors in some 22,000 high schools took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test which served as an initial screen of program entrants.

National Merit $2500 Scholarship winners are 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.

Scholars may use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university.

The majority of scholarships offered each year are underwritten by approximately 440 independent corporate and college sponsors that believe in honoring scholastically talented youth and encouraging academic excellence at all levels of education

--Image via Shutterstock