West Haven Resident Awarded $2,500 National Merit Scholarship

WEST HAVEN, CT — A West Haven resident is among this year’s National Merit $2,500 Scholarship winners, which were announced by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation this week.

Arin M. Bhandari, who attends the Hopkins School in New Haven, was awarded a $2,500 scholarship that can be used at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university.

Bhandari’s probable career field is Computer Engineering.

Merit Scholar designees — 2,500 in total — were chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 outstanding finalists in the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program.

Award 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.

These 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 (PSAT/NMSQT); contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essay written by the finalist; and a recommendation written by a high school official.

This year’s National Merit Scholarship Program began in October 2021 when high school juniors took the PSAT/NMSQT, which served as an initial screen of program entrants.

Last fall, the highest-scoring participants in each state, representing less than one percent of the nation’s high school seniors, were named semifinalists on a state-representational basis. More than 16,000 semifinalists had an opportunity to continue in the competition.

From the semifinalist group, more than 15,000 students met the very high academic standards and other requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition.

By the conclusion of the 2023 program, more than 7,140 finalists will have earned the "Merit Scholar" title and received a total of nearly $28 million in college scholarships.

Bhandari was also recently named a U.S. Presidential Scholar Semifinalist.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program was established in 1964, by executive order of the President, to recognize and honor some of the nation's most distinguished graduating high school seniors. The Scholars represent excellence in education and the promise of greatness in young people. Each year, up to 161 students are named as Presidential Scholars.