Six Deerfield Students Named National Merit Semifinalists

DEERFIELD, IL — The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced six Deerfield High School students have been named semifinalists its 2019 scholarship competition. The students were chosen for their high scores on last year's Preliminary SAT test. The half dozen Deerfield students to make the cut had some of the highest-scoring students in Illinois, as the 16,000 semifinalists selected comprise less than 1 percent of high school students nationwide, according to National Merit.

Over the course of the 2019 competition, the corporation will award 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $31 million combined. The next step is narrowing down the pool of semifinalists to finalists, with about 15,000 semifinalists expected to advance to the next level after submitting an application with information about academic and community activities, employment, awards and "demonstrated leadership abilities," National Merit said.

Scholarships winners will be selected from the group of finalists based on their accomplishments, skills and potential for success in college, according to National Merit, which plans to announce Merit Scholars for the class of 2019 between April and July 2019. Here are this year's National Merit Semifinalists from Deerfield High School:

• Nora Awad
  
• Alexander Chen
• Sophie Henry
• Alexander Peck
• Emma Rosenberg-Rappin
• Daniel Shade

Last year, four DHS students were selected as National Merit Scholarship semifinalists. One student was awarded a college-sponsored scholarship to Northwestern University. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation is an Evanston-based nonprofit founded in 1955. A majority of the $31 million in scholarships it distributed last year was underwritten by sponsors, including about 178 colleges and 232 corporations.

More: Deerfield, Bannockburn Public Schools Ranked Top In Lake County

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