4 Buffalo Grove Students Are National Merit Scholarship Winners

BUFFALO GROVE, IL — Four Buffalo Grove students have been named winners for the 2021 corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship Program. So far, 52 National Merit winners have been announced in Illinois.

The winners were announced on Wednesday and include approximately 1,000 high-school seniors from across the U.S. According to a press release from the National Merit Scholarship Program, the corporate scholarships are financed by about 140 corporations, company foundations and other business organizations.

The awards are renewable for up to four years of undergraduate study and students get a stipend that’s anywhere between $1,000 - $10,000 each year. Some of the awards include a single payment between $2,500-$5,000.

More than 1.5 million students applied for the highly competitive scholarship and the program says that around 7,500 students will go on to win scholarships in 2021 that total $30 million. Winners of the $2,500 scholarships and the college-sponsored scholarships will be announced later this year.

Here are the Buffalo Grove winners for the corporate-sponsored scholarships:

• Aarthi Balaji, of Adlai E. Stevenson High School (Lincolnshire), was awarded a National Merit scholarship sponsored by Abbvie Inc. She intends to pursue a career in computer science, according to National Merit.
• David L. Gorin, of Adlai E. Stevenson High School (Lincolnshire), was awarded a National Merit scholarship sponsored by Abbvie Inc. He intends to pursue a career in biomedical engineering, according to National Merit.
• Sophia Y. Li, of Adlai E. Stevenson High School (Lincolnshire), was awarded a National Merit scholarship sponsored by Abbvie Inc. She intends to pursue a career in biology, according to National Merit.
• Isha Rustagi, of Adlai E. Stevenson High School (Lincolnshire), was awarded a National Merit scholarship sponsored by Omron Corporation. Rustagi intends to pursue a career in computer science, according to National Merit.

Winners were selected from students who advanced to the finalist level and met criteria set by corporate sponsors. Most corporate-sponsored scholarships are limited to qualifying children of employees, while some are also open to residents of certain areas or those who plan to pursue studies a corporate sponsor wants to encourage.

A total of 16,000 students were selected as finalists for the scholarships and the final winners are candidates “judged to have the strongest combination of academic skills and achievements, extracurricular accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies.”

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