11 Wilmette, Kenilworth Residents Win National Merit Scholarships

WILMETTE-KENILWORTH, IL — Eleven recent high school gradates from Wilmette and Kenilworth have been awarded National Merit scholarships. They include six winners of cash scholarships announced last month and five college-sponsored scholarships announced earlier this month. The final scholarship winners are scheduled to be announced in July, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

The Evanston-based nonprofit picks 2,500 winners of the cash scholarships among those judged to have the "strongest combination of accomplishments, skills and potential for success in rigorous college studies." Each state's number of winners is proportional to its share of the nation's population.

Each college-sponsored scholarship provides between $500 and $2,000 every year for up to four years of undergraduate study, according to National Merit. There are 167 colleges and universities underwriting about 4,100 college sponsored scholarships in 2020. They include 92 private schools and 75 public ones spanning 43 states and Washington, D.C. The winners are picked from about 15,000 National Merit finalists by school officials from the sponsoring institutions.

According to National Merit, winners among Wilmette and Kenilworth residents in the class of 2020 include the following recent grads:

Mira S. Becker, of Wilmette and New Trier Township High School, was awarded a $2,500 cash scholarship and plans to pursue a career in psychology.

Maggie Cao, of Wilmette and New Trier, was awarded a $2,500 cash scholarship and plans to pursue a career in medicine.

Isabella B. Cho, of Wilmette and North Shore Country Day School, was awarded a $2,500 scholarship and plans to attend Harvard University and pursue a career in law.

Kevin F. Considine, of Wilmette and Loyola Academy, was awarded a college-sponsored scholarship to Northwestern University, where he plans to study electrical engineering.

Lydia A. Kaup, of Wilmette and New Trier, was awarded a $2,500 cash scholarship and plans to study applied mathematics.

Andrew O. Kearney, of Wilmette and New Trier, was awarded a college-sponsored scholarship to Northwestern University, where he plans to pursue a career in medicine.

Erin A. McNally, of Wilmette and New Trier, was awarded a college-sponsored scholarship to Northwestern University, where she plans to pursue a career in medicine.

Aryoman M. Patel, of Wilmette and New Trier, was awarded a $2,500 cash scholarship and plans to study computer science.

Alina P. Scholz, of Wilmette and New Trier, was awarded a $2,500 cash scholarship and plans to pursue an engineering career.

Karthik Srinivasan, of Wilmette, was awarded a college-sponsored scholarship to the University of Chicago, where he plans to pursue a career in academia.

Keyler R. White, of Kenilworth and New Trier, was awarded a college-sponsored scholarship to Northwestern University, where he plans to study mechanical engineering.

Last fall, National Merit named 35 seniors from New Trier High School, 11 from Loyola Academy and two from North Shore as National Merit semifinalists.

Earlier: Loyola, New Trier Students Among 48 Area National Merit Semifinalists

Another approximately 800 winners of college-sponsored scholarships will be announced in July, bringing the total number of winners from the class of 2020 to about 7,600, according to the nonprofit. More than $30 million in scholarships will have been awarded by the end of this year's competition.

In addition to cash and college-sponsored scholarships, the nonprofit awards corporate-sponsored scholarships, most of which are restricted to the family of participating employers.