2 Evanston Students Awarded National Merit Scholarships

EVANSTON, IL — Two Evanston residents were named among this year's final group of National Merit Scholars, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced Monday. A total of 10 Evanston students from five different high schools have now been awarded 2018 National Merit Scholarships. The winners of the college-sponsored awards will receive annual payments of between $500 and $2,000 for up to four years of undergraduate study at the sponsoring institution.

Aimee Nicole van der Berg, a graduate of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora, was awarded a scholarship to Northwestern University. She has a probable career field in computer science, according to National Merit.

Jasper L. Davidoff, an Evanston Township High School graduate, was awarded a scholarship to study at Pomona College in Claremont, California. His probable career field was listed as undecided by the scholarship corporation.

More than 4,000 college-sponsored grants have been awarded this year by 178 colleges and universities, including 78 public schools and 100 private in 44 states and the District of Columbia.

In June, about 3,500 other college-sponsored award recipients were announced, including four other ETHS students. The month prior, four Evanston residents were awarded $2,500 National Merit-sponsored scholarships to attend institutions of their choosing.

The winners were selected by officials from each sponsoring college from finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program who will be attending the school. Finalists are selected from 16,000 semifinalists picked from the 1.6 million juniors who took the 2016 Preliminary SAT test.

They represent less than 1 percent of the seniors in the country, and the number of semifinalists in each state was proportional to its share of the total number of graduating seniors nationwide. There were 11 students from ETHS, two from Beacon Academy and one from Roycemore School included among the semifinalists.

Semifinalists then had to complete a scholarship application and qualify through their SAT scores. About half of those semifinalists have been chosen to receive National Merit Scholarships this year, which include scholarships sponsored by colleges, corporations and the National Merit Scholarships Corporation, an Evanston-based nonprofit.

The latest and final group of winners brings the number of 2018 National Merit Scholars to more than 7,500, who will receive a total of more than $31 million in scholarships for undergraduate study, according to National Merit.

Related:

• 4 ETHS Students Earn National Merit Scholarships
• Evanston Students, Schools Named Among National Merit Winners
• Evanston National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists Announced

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