17 Fremont Students Named U.S. Presidential Scholar Candidates

FREMONT, CA — 17 students from Fremont were named as candidates to become U.S. Presidential Scholars. All except one student attend Fremont Unified School District High Schools.

5,000 students out of roughly 3.6 million students were named as candidates for the prestigious award, which honors graduating high school seniors with superior achievements in academics, leadership, and community involvement.

Below are Fremont students who were nominated:

• Arushi G. Agarwal, Fremont - Mission San Jose High School
• Akhilesh Basetty, Fremont - Mission San Jose High School
• Shelley Fernando, Fremont - Mission San Jose High School
• Chris J. Ge, Fremont - Mission San Jose High School
• Shelley Li, Fremont - Mission San Jose High School
• Hung Lin, Fremont - American High School
• Nandana J. Nambiar, Fremont - Mission San Jose High School
• Ambareesh Shyam Sundar, Fremont - Irvington High School
• Aryan Singh, Fremont - American High School
• Selena T. Tang, Fremont - Mission San Jose High School
• Jonathan S. Tao, Fremont - Mission San Jose High School
• Andrew Wen, Fremont - Phillips Academy
• Olivia Wu, Fremont - Mission San Jose High School
• Samvar M. Yedur, Fremont - American High School
• Jerry Yuan, Fremont - Mission San Jose High School
• Maggie Zhang, Fremont - Mission San Jose High School
• Michael Zhou, Fremont - Mission San Jose High School

A panel of distinguished educators will review submissions and select approximately 600 semifinalists in early April. The Commission on Presidential Scholars, a group of up to 32 eminent citizens selected by the president, will select up to 161 finalists, whose names will be announced in May.

The U.S. Presidential Scholars Program was established in 1964 to recognize the nation’s most promising students. Most students are selected based on broad academic achievement, though each year, about 20 students are selected based on outstanding academic and artistic achievement, and another 20 or so are selected based on outstanding career and technical education achievement.

Candidacy is invitation-only. Students who score exceptionally well on either the SAT or ACT exam are identified as candidates. Eligible candidates are also identified by their state’s Chief State School Officer and several other recognition organizations such as YoungArts and The National Foundation for the Advancement of Artists.

Winners do not receive a monetary scholarship, like the National Merit Scholarship. Instead, they are invited to an all-expenses paid trip to the White House, where they are presented with a Presidential Scholars Medallion at a special ceremony.

For more information, contact presidential.scholars@ed.gov or visit ed.gov/psp.