3 Bridgewater-Raritan Students Win Corporate-Sponsored National Merit Scholarships

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Three Bridgewater-Raritan Regional High School students earned a corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship.

The winners include:

• Rohan Reddy Avula of Bridgewater, who's interested in a career in medicine, earned a scholarship from a trust established by the estate of Mary E. Beyerle.
• Eric Lin of Bridgewater, who's interested in a career in mathematics, earned a scholarship from TIAA
• Eric W. Zou of Raritan, who's interested in a career in computer science, earned a scholarship from Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, Inc.

All three are among 1,000 high school seniors around the United States to earn the honor.

Corporate sponsors provide National Merit Scholarships for finalists who are children of their employees, residents of the communities the company serves or who plan to pursue college majors or careers the sponsor wishes to encourage.

Most of the awards are renewable for up to four years of undergraduate study and provide annual stipends that range from $1,000 to $10,000 per year. Some provide a single payment between $2,500 and $5,000. Recipients can use their scholarships at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation will name recipients of its $2,500 scholarships on May 11 and then announce winners of college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards on June 1 and July 11. By the end of this year's competitions, about 7,500 students will have received more than $28 million in merit scholarships — an average of about $3,700 per winner.

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