8 Arlington Heights Area Students Win 2024 National Merit Scholarships

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL — There is some local flavor to the latest installment of 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program award-winners. On the second list of four announced for the 2023-2024 school year, eight Arlington Heights area students are recipients of the corporate-sponsored awards, including:

• Rohan Ganeshan, of Arlington Heights (Buffalo Grove High School), probable career field of biochemistry, $2,500 scholarship
• Zuyu Liu, of Palatine (Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, Aurora), probable career field of chemical engineering, $2,500 scholarship
• Maitreyi Pandey, of Palatine (Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, Aurora), probable career field of medicine, $2,500 scholarship
• Jack Xu, of Palatine (William Fremd High School, Palatine), probable career field of finance, $2,500 scholarship
• Aditya Gupta, of Rolling Meadows (William Fremd High School, Palatine), probable career field of computer science, $2,500 scholarship
• Anirudh S. Chari, of Schaumburg (Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, Aurora), probable career field of computer science, $2,500 scholarship
• Siddharth Dayaneni, of Schaumburg (James B. Conant High School, Hoffman Estates), probable career field of computer science, $2,500 scholarship
• Grace H. Lee, of Schaumburg (William Fremd High School, Palatine), probable career field of public health, $2,500 scholarship

By the conclusion of this year's competition, National Merit Scholarship Corporation estimates more than 6,870 academic champions will have won National Merit Scholarships worth approximately $26 million.

The designees were chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 outstanding finalists in the program.

According to officials, the 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, including: academic record, which includes 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.