4 Davis Students Chosen For 2019 National Merit Scholarships

DAVIS, CA — Four Davis students will receive $2,500 National Merit Scholarships. They were chosen from a pool of more than 15,000 finalists in the 2019 National Merit Scholarship Program.

They and other California winners were determined by judges 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, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

The Davis-area winners are:

• Nina K. Martin, Davis resident, senior at Davis School For Independent Study; Probable career field: Music
• Patrick Chankyu Song, Davis resident, senior at Davis High School; Probable career field: Computer science
• Aniela J. Mitchell, Woodland resident, senior at Davis High School; Probable career field: Physics
• Charlotte Mitchell, Woodland resident, senior at Davis High School; Probable career field: Biotechnology

The scholarships may be used at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university.

The scholarship recipients were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high
school counselors using this criteria: academic records 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.

On June 5 and July 15, more than 4,000 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship winners will be announced. By the conclusion of this year's competition, about 7,600 students will have won National Merit Scholarships worth more than $31 million.