Millburn Has Most National Merit Scholarship Winners Announced Among NJ Towns

MILLBURN, NJ — After taking tests, submitting essays, and meeting several qualifications to apply for a National Merit Scholarship to college, six high school students in Millburn have won the prestigious award, the Scholarship Corporation on Wednesday.

The six winners, chosen from 32 finalists in Millburn, will each get a $2,500 annual scholarship to college.

The following winners from Millburn/Short Hills were announced on Wednesday by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation:

• Yuliu Huang, probable career field: law.
• Eric Dong, probable career field: computer science.
• Aryan Dugar, probable career field: civil engineering.
• Skywalker S. Li, probable career field: engineering.
• Ryan Park, probable career field: bioinformatics.
• Margaret Zhu, probable career field: undecided.

Two Others Win Corporate Awards

Two students in Millburn, Maria D. Beloreshka and Veronica H. Song, had already been announced as winners last month of special corporate National Merit Scholarships, bringing the total winners in Millburn to eight for this year.

The students above made the cut after a whopping 32 students were named last year as semi-finalists in the program. Only private or magnet high schools had nearly as many semifinalists.

As for nearby towns, Livingston also produced one scholarship winner announced Wednesday, and had had two corporate scholarship winners.

To become a finalist, the semifinalists and their high school officials must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received.

A semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.

Approximately 7,500 students around the country have been notified that they have been chosen for a Merit Scholarship. Many will receive a $2,500 scholarship for college, but some may win an award from a company or from a particular college.

In 2021, among nearby districts, South Orange-Maplewood had 10 semifinalists, Summit High School had five, Chatham High School had three, Westfield High had two, Scotch Plains High had two, and Madison High had two.

Most other New Jersey high schools with more than 10 were magnet or private schools.

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