East Brunswick Student Wins National Merit Scholarship

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ — An East Brunswick high school student has won the National Merit Scholarship after a rigorous qualification process, according to a news release.

Austin Yang of East Brunswick High School won a $2,500 annual scholarship to college. Yang's probable career field is biophysics.

The scholar was selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors who appraised a substantial amount of information submitted by both the finalists and their high schools.

The information includes academic record, including difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned; scores from the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test; contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essay written by the finalist; and a recommendation written by a high school official.

This year's National Merit Scholarship Program began in Oct. of 2020 when high school juniors took the PSAT/NMSQT, which served as an initial screen of program entrants.

Last fall, the highest-scoring participants in each state were named semifinalists on a state-representational basis. More than 16,000 students had an opportunity to continue in the competition.

Among the semifinalists, over 15,000 students met the high standards required to advance to the finalist level of the competition. By the end of the 2022 program, about 7,500 finalists will have earned the "Merit Scholar" title and received a total of nearly $28 million in college scholarships.

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