Three Local Students Win National Merit Scholarships

Today, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced that three Norcross students were chosen among a pool of 15,000 qualified applicants to receive $2500 for their college education. 

The program honors individual students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in a rigorous college environment, according to the program.

Walker Z. Argendeli listed his likely future career field as neuroscience. Argendeli lives in Norcross and attends Norcross High School.

Paul Joseph Koenig plans to go into engineering. He lives in Norcross but attends St. Pius Catholic High School in Atlanta.

Nihar M. Madhavan, who lives in Norcross but attends Duluth High School also won the award. He plans to go into electrical engineering.

All three of these students will receive a one-time award from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation funds.

By the end of the year, 7,800 students nationwide will receive nearly $35 million in scholarships, according to a news release from the corporation.

The competition began in October of 2009, when 1.5 million juniors took the PSAT, a qualifier for the Merit Scholarships.  The highest scorers, less than one percent of those who took the test, then were made semifinalists. 

A committee of educators then sifted through the applicants, choosing this year’s winning seniors. Each state judges the contest individually, taking their accomplishments, skills and potential future successes into account.