New Trier, Loyola Students Awarded National Merit Scholarships

WINNETKA, IL — A Winnetka resident and two recent New Trier High School graduates were named National Merit Scholars Monday among the final group of winners announced this year, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Winners of the college-sponsored awards receive annual payments of between $500 and $2,000 for up to four years of undergraduate study at the sponsoring institution. More than 4,000 such grants have been awarded this year by 178 colleges and universities, including 78 public schools and 100 private in 44 states and the District of Columbia.

The latest winners include a pair of Trevians and a Loyola Academy graduate:

Silpian Dhiantravan, a Wilmette resident and recent New Trier High School graduate who intends to pursue a career in applied mathematics, was awarded a scholarship to study at Colby College in Waterville, Maine.

Jisu Yang, a Wilmette resident and recent New Trier High School graduate who intends to pursue a career in medicine, was awarded a scholarship to Emory University in Atlanta.

Henry J. Kroeger, a Winnetka resident and recent Loyola Academy graduate who intends to pursue a career in computer engineering, was awarded a scholarship to the University of Southern California.

A total of 15 members of the New Trier Township High School class of 2018 have been named National Merit Scholars. In June, 11 NTHS students were awarded college-sponsored scholarships, and two others won $2,500 scholarships to the institutions of their choice in May. Three Loyola Academy students, including residents of Evanston, Lake Forest and Wilmette were also awarded $2,500 scholarships, according to National Merit.

The winners were selected by officials from each sponsoring college from finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program who will be attending the school. Finalists are selected from 16,000 semifinalists picked from the 1.6 million juniors who took the 2016 Preliminary SAT test.

They represent less than 1 percent of the seniors in the country, and the number of semifinalists in each state was proportional to its share of the total number of graduating seniors nationwide.

Last September, 35 New Trier High School students were named National Merit semifinalists.

Semifinalists then had to complete a scholarship application and qualify through their SAT scores. About half of those semifinalists have been chosen to receive National Merit Scholarships this year, which include scholarships sponsored by colleges, corporations and the National Merit Scholarships Corporation, an Evanston-based nonprofit.

The latest and final group of winners brings the number of 2018 National Merit Scholars to more than 7,500, who will receive a total of more than $31 million in scholarships for undergraduate study, according to National Merit.

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