Lake Bluff, Lake Forest Students Named National Merit Scholars

EVANSTON, IL — A pair of high school seniors from Lake Forest and Lake Bluff was named Wednesday among the latest group of National Merit Scholars. Each student will receive a cash scholarship awarded by the nonprofit, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced.

Winners of the $2,500 scholarships were judged to possess the strongest combination of skills, accomplishments and potential to succeed in a challenging college environment, according to the Evanston-based nonprofit. They were selected by a committee comprised of college admissions officials and high school counselors from among the pool of more than 15,000 finalists.

Nina Montalbano, a Lake Forest High School student and Lake Bluff resident, plans to pursue a career in biochemical engineering. Last year, four Lake Forest High School students were named National Merit semifinalists.

Daniel Zhu, of Lake Forest and Stevenson High School, has a probable career field in design. Other than Zhu, whose scholarship was underwritten by W.W. Grainger, Inc., 10 other Stevenson seniors were awarded cash scholarships.

There were 111 winners in Illinois among 2,500 Merit Scholars designated in the country. The number of winners in each state in proportional to the state's share of the nation's total number of graduating high school seniors, according to the NMSC.

National Merit announced more than 1,000 winners of corporate-sponsored scholarships last month. In June and July, it will announce the winners of 4,100 scholarships sponsored by colleges. By the end of the 2018-19 school year, the organization said it would have awarded more than $31 million worth of scholarships to about 7,600 of more than 15,000 finalists in the 2019 National Merit Scholarship program.

Earlier:

• Four LFHS Students Named National Merit Semifinalists
• Lake Forest High School Student Named National Merit Scholar