5 South Brunswick High Students Given National Merit Scholarships

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — An incredible five South Brunswick High School students are recipients of the prestigious National Merit scholarships, it was announced Monday.

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

The South Brunswick High School students are:

Elizabeth Chen, Alice Zheng and Shelley Wang, all of Kendall Park, and who each listed economics as their likely career fields, were each given a scholarship from the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation. The foundation annually awards scholarships to the children of active, full-time employees of Bristol-Myers Squibb and it does so through the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

Ananya Swaminathan, of Dayton, and who listed biomedical engineering as her career field, was given a $2,500 scholarship from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation's own funds.

Saket Shah, of Kendall Park, who listed physics, was given a $2,500 scholarship from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation's own funds.

Note: Any attempt to compare high schools on the basis of numbers of Merit Scholarship winners will lead to erroneous and unsound conclusions, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation cautioned. The National Merit Scholarship Program honors individual students who show exceptional academic ability and

potential for success in rigorous college studies. The program does not measure the quality or effectiveness of education within a school, system, or state.