5 Greenwich Students Awarded National Merit Scholarship

GREENWICH, CT — The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) on Wednesday announced 2,500 National Merit Scholarship winners, and among them are five Greenwich students.

The following students will receive $2,500 scholarships:

• Emily Hall, Greenwich Academy, probable career field: accounting
• Imran Iftikar, Greenwich Country Day School, probable career field: business
• Ashley Malkin, Greenwich High School, probable career field: Neurotechnology entrepreneur
• Leah Steyn, Greenwich resident - Rye Country Day School, probable career field: biomedical engineering
• Julia K. Stiker, White Plains, N.Y. resident - Sacred Heart Greenwich, probable career field: neuroscience

Recipients were chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 finalists in the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program, the NMSC said.

Scholarship winners are the finalists in each state 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 were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors, who appraised a substantial amount of information submitted by both the finalists and their high schools: the academic record, including difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned; scores from the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test ({SAT/NMSQT); contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essay written by the finalist; and a recommendation written by a high school official, according to the NMSC.

Earlier this year, Zhang was selected as a candidate for the 2025 United States Presidential Scholars Program.