6 Buffalo Grove Students Named National Merit Semifinalists

BUFFALO GROVE, IL — Six seniors at Buffalo Grove High School were named semifinalists Wednesday for 2022 National Merit scholarships.

The local students are among 16,000 semifinalists nationwide who qualified by achieving one of the state's highest scores on the 2020 Preliminary SAT, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

To make it to the finalist round in February, the students must submit an application with a recommendation from an official at their high school.

About 7,500 scholarships worth nearly $30 million will be awarded to finalists before the end of July 2022, according to the scholarship corporation, an Evanston-based nonprofit founded in 1955 to run the program.

Those merit scholarships include about 4,000 sponsored by colleges and universities, 2,500 sponsored by the nonprofits own funds and about 1,000 provided by corporations and business organizations.

Semifinalists for 2022 National Merit Scholarships from Buffalo Grove High School:

• Vishnuh S. Bala
• Celia L. Cortopassi
• Irina Kryukov
• Kevin R. Rabinak
• Spencer M. Sadler
• Harmony M. Sosa

Students will find out in February whether they make it to the finalist stage. The scholarship winners will be announced beginning in April.

This year's crop of semifinalists from Buffalo Grove High School represents an increase compared to the class of 2021, when two students made the cut.

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