Bethesda Students Win National Merit Scholarship In Latest Round

BETHESDA, MD — Three of Bethesda's high school students were named as winners in the latest round of the National Merit Scholarship competition, which give scholarships to outstanding students across the country. This round of awards — ranging from $500 to $2,000 — are given by colleges to incoming students.

More than 160 colleges participate in the scholarship program and there were over 4,100 college-sponsored scholarships given this year, the corporation said.

Here are the Bethesda students who were awarded scholarships in the latest round:

• Kelsey E. Frederick of Holton-Arms School. Frederick plans to study business at Vanderbilt University.
• Linnea C. Hultman of Walter Johnson High School. Hultman plans to study biology at Carleton College.
• Hailey Z. Sobel of Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School. Sobel plans to study political science at the University of Chicago.

In addition to college-sponsored awards, there are $2,500 awards and corporate-sponsored awards. These were announced earlier in the year. Around 7,500 students total were awarded a combined $30 million, the scholarship fund said in a news release.

About 1.5 million high school juniors nationally entered the 2021 National Merit scholarship competition by taking the 2019 preliminary SAT/National Merit scholarship qualifying test — known as the PSAT — the corporation said. Those who qualified wrote an essay and explain extracurricular activities, awards and leadership positions in order to make it to the finalist round.Fewer than 1 percent of the country's high school seniors were announced as semifinalists last fall.

The corporation said that since the scholarship's inception in 1955, more than 16,000 finalists have been awarded.

SEE MORE:

• National Merit Scholars From Bethesda Announced
• Four Bethesda Students Win National Merit Scholarships
• 10 Bethesda Students Named National Merit Scholars
• Bethesda Area Students Named National Merit Scholar

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