Niles West Student Awarded National Merit Scholarship

SKOKIE, IL — A student at Niles West High School was awarded a $2,500 scholarship from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Sean A. Collins, of Lincolnwood, was among 2,500 students selected from out of an initial screen of students taking the preliminary SAT test at more than 22,000 high schools across the country, the organization announced.

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.

The Evanston-based organization finances most of these 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.