Trio Of Highland Park High School Students Named Merit Scholars

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — Three Highland Park High School seniors were recently named winners of National Merit scholarships.

Two of them were among the 2,500 students nationwide selected to receive $2,500 cash scholarships to the institution of their choice, and one was among the first approximately 3,100 winners of scholarships sponsored by a university.

A final group of about 900 winners of college-sponsored scholarships, which provide between $500 to $2,000 annually for four years of undergraduate study, will be announced next month, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, the Evanston-based nonprofit that established the program in 1955.

Out of the 1.5 million students who applied for the scholarship nationwide through the 2019 preliminary SAT and the 16,000 who qualified as finalists, about 7,500 will receive scholarships for their undergraduate education from the corporation.

The following Highland Park students have been named winners so far:

• Irene E. Gehrig, who plans to pursue a career in business, was awarded a college-sponsored scholarship to the University of South California.
• Eli Y. Gidron, who plans to pursue a career in computer science, was awarded a $2,500 cash scholarship out of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation's own funds.
• Caitlin J. Hong, who plans to pursue a career in law, was awarded a $2,500 cash scholarship out of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation's own funds.

Last fall, nine Highland Park High School students qualified as National Merit semifinalists, up from four during the 2019-20 school year.

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