5 New Trier Students Awarded College-Sponsored Merit Scholarships

WINNETKA, IL — Five New Trier High School students were named winners of college-sponsored National Merit scholarships Wednesday. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced the first group of about 4,100 recipients of the scholarships, which are selected by sponsor colleges from among 2019 National Merit finalists who plan to attend the schools.

Da Hee Kim, of Wilmette, intends to pursue a computer science career and was awarded a scholarship to the University of Chicago.

Grace Lee, of Northfield, has a probable career field in the social sciences and was awarded a scholarship to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Marion Madanguit, of Wilmette, intends to pursue an a career in the field of engineering and was awarded a scholarship to Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in Needham, Massachusetts.

Katherine Schindler, of Glenview, intends to pursue a career in architecture and was awarded a scholarship to the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

Patrick Tolan, of Wilmette, intends to pursue a career in medicine and was awarded a scholarship to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation is an Evanston-based nonprofit established in 1955. Most of its scholarship funding is provided by about 400 college and corporate sponsors. The college-sponsored scholarships provide between $500 to $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study.

This year, National Merit expects to award more than $31 million to about 7,600 high school seniors. Last fall, it announced a group of 31 New Trier students qualified as semifinalists in the program.

Earlier this spring, National Merit announced the winners of corporate-sponsored scholarships — including five NTHS students — and $2,500 scholarships from its own funds, which included five more NTHS students.

National Merit plans to announce a second group of winners of college-sponsored scholarships in July.