Pleasanton Students Awarded 2019 National Merit Scholarship

PLEASANTON, CA — Seven Pleasanton students will receive a $2500 National Merit Scholarship. The teens were chosen from a pool of more than 15,000 finalists in the 2019 National Merit Scholarship Program.

The students and other California winners were 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, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC).
The scholarships may be used at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university.

Pleasanton winners:

Foothill High:

• Asim Biswal, Probable career field: Computer Science
• Nisha Prabhakar, Probable career field: Computer Engineering
• Jasmine Zhang, Probable career field: Business Administration

Amador Valley High:

• Esha Chawla, Probable career field: Biochemistry
• Quincy L. Kumfert, Probable career field: Undecided
• Rhea Shah, Probable career field: Medicine
• Justin Y. Shih, Probable career field: Applied Mathematics

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.

By Bea Karnes, Patch Staff