3 Lake Bluff, Lake Forest Students Awarded Merit Scholarships

LAKE FOREST, IL — Three residents of Lake Bluff and Lake Forest have been awarded $2,500 scholarships from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. The 2,500 students selected were chosen from an initial screen of students taking the preliminary SAT test at more than 22,000 high schools across the country, the organization announced. The latest group of Merit Scholar designees includes high school seniors from Lake Forest High School, Libertyville High School and Loyola Academy.

The winners were picked by a panel of college and high school staff who evaluated students by the difficulty of their academic record, test scores, activities in and out of school, an essay and a letter of recommendation. According to the organization, the number of students named in Illinois is proportional to the state's percentage of graduating high school seniors nationwide.

Among the local Merit Scholars:

• Maximillian K. Calk, of Lake Forest — Loyola Academy
• Suraj Rajendran, of Lake Bluff — Libertyville High School
• Isabel Sarah Hokuao Rosa, of Lake Bluff — Lake Forest High School

According to National Merit, Calk has a probable career field in applied mathematics, Rajendran is interested in studying biological engineering and Rosa is likely to pursue mathematics.

The Evanston-based organization finances most of the single-payment scholarships, which can be used at any regionally accredited college or university in the country. Last month, the organization named more than 1,000 recipients of corporate-sponsored awards mostly open to the children of employees of participating corporations.

In June and July, about 4,000 winners of college-sponsored National Merit Scholarships will be announced. By the end of this year's competition, more than $31 million in scholarships will have been awarded to about 7,500 students.