Fort Lee Student Named National Merit Scholar

FORT LEE, NJ — A borough student has received a $2,500 National Merit Scholarship.

Eric Hong of Fort Lee High School has received a $2,500 scholarship from the National Merit Scholarship Corp. He hopes to go into the field of academia after college.

Scholarships were awarded to students who advanced to the finalist level of the National Merit Scholarship competition.

More than 1.6 million high school juniors entered the 2017 National Merit Scholarship Program when they took the 2015 Preliminary SAT. About 16,000 semifinalists were chosen for consideration for a scholarship based on their outstanding academic records, completion of an essay and other criteria.

Awardees were judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corp. The number of winners named in each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the nation’s graduating high school seniors.

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