Niles West Student Awarded National Merit Cash Scholarship

SKOKIE, IL — A Niles Township High School District 219 student was named Wednesday among the latest group of National Merit Scholars. The Niles West High School senior will receive a cash scholarship awarded directly by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Gabriel Cohen, of Lincolnwood, intends to pursue a career involving computer programming, according to the Evanston-based nonprofit.

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 a release. 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.

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.

Three District 219 students were announced as National Merit semifinalists last fall, with Cohen the lone Niles West student to make the cut among 1 percent of high school juniors taking the preliminary SAT. Three Niles West students were named National Merit Scholars last year.

Last month, National Merit announced more than 1,000 winners of corporate-sponsored scholarships. 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:

• Trio Of District 219 Students Named National Merit Semifinalists
• Niles West Students Awarded National Merit Scholarships