Wilton Student Awarded National Merit Scholarship

WILTON, CT — The National Merit Scholarship Corporation released the names of the second and final group of winners in the 65th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. One Wilton High School student made the cut.

National Merit $2500 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.

Wilton High School's Rishabh Raniwala was awarded the scholarship. He was chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 outstanding Finalists in the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program. Raniwala is looking to pursue a career in public policy.

Raniwala was 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, contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essay written by the Finalist; and a recommendation written by a high school official.

This is the second announcement of winners in the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program. On April 22, more than 1,000 recipients of corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards were named, and on June 3 and July 13, some 4,100 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship winners will be announced. By the conclusion of this year’s competition, about 7,600 academic champions will have won National Merit Scholarships worth more than $30 million.

NMSC finances most of these single-payment National Merit $2500 Scholarships. Corporations and company foundations that sponsor awards through NMSC also help underwrite these scholarships with grants they provide in lieu of paying administrative fees. Scholars may use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university.

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