Trio Of District 219 Students Named National Merit Semifinalists

SKOKIE, IL — The National Merit Scholarship Corporation Wednesday named a trio of Niles Township High School District 219 high school students as semifinalists in its annual scholarship competition. The three students, two from Niles North and one from Niles West, qualified based on the results of preliminary SAT tests taken last year. Their scores put them in the top 1 percent of the 1.6 million high school juniors who took the test nationwide. National Merit said it plans to award 7,500 scholarships worth more than $31 million during the course of this year's competition.

The next step in the process is narrowing down the pool of semifinalists to finalists. About 15,000 semifinalists are expected to advance to the next level after submitting an application with information about academic and community activities, employment, awards and "demonstrated leadership abilities," according to National Merit. Winners will be selected out of those finalists based on their accomplishments, skills and potential for success in college. This year's National Merit Scholars will be announced between April and July 2019.

From Niles North High School:

• Maryarita A. Kobotis
  
• Eshana T. Patel

From Niles West High School:

• Gabriel C. Cohen

Last year, three students from Niles West and no students from Niles North were picked as National Merit semifinalists. All three NWHS grads went on to be awarded scholarships. Two received college-sponsored scholarships and one got a $2,500 grant to the institution of his choice. Last year's winners from Niles West included two Lincolnwood residents and one from Skokie.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation is an Evanston-based nonprofit founded in 1955. A majority of the roughly $33 million in scholarships it distributed last year was underwritten by sponsors, including about 178 colleges and 232 corporations.

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