2017 National Merit Scholarships: 43 Hudson Valley Students Named in 2nd Round

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced this year’s National Merit $2500 Scholarship winners Wednesday, the second round of this year's scholarships. The 2,500 Merit Scholar designees were chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 outstanding Finalists in the 2017 National Merit Scholarship Program.

Today’s release is the second announcement of winners in the 2017 National Merit Scholarship Program. On April 19, more than 1,000 recipients of corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards were named, including 12 students from the Hudson Valley.

On June 7 and July 17, some 4,000 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship winners will be announced. By the conclusion of this year’s competition, about 7,500 academic champions will have won National Merit Scholarships worth more than $32 million.

NMSC finances most of these single-payment National Merit $2500 Scholarships.

National Merit $2500 Scholarship winners are the Finalists in each state judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies. The number of winners named in each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the nation’s graduating high school seniors.

These Scholars were 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 academic record, including difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned; scores from two standardized tests; contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essay written by the Finalist; and a recommendation written by a high school official.

Corporations and company foundations that sponsor awards through NMSC also help underwrite these scholarships with grants they provide in lieu of paying administrative fees. Scholars may use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university.

The local students named in this round are:

Adriana Szpynda of Amawalk, Probable career field: Surgical Medicine. Somers High School

Emily Szpynda of Amawalk, Probable career field: Biomedical Engineering. Somers High School

Christopher E. Florez, Probable career field: Chemistry. Ardsley High School

Sabrina You of Armonk, Probable career field: Law. Byram Hills High School

Liliana M. Voltaggio of Bedford, Probable career field: Computer Programming. Fox Lane High School

Meaghan E. Townsend of Chappaqua. Probable career field: Writing. Horace Greeley High School

Blake R. Hord. Probable career field: Computer Science. Dobbs Ferry High School

Nina H. Pasquini. Probable career field: Undecided. Goshen High School

Madeline V. Rawson. Probable career field: Theoretical Physics. Harrison High School

Matthew A. Zinman. Probable career field: Undecided. Harrison High School

Matthew F. Kline of Hopewell Junction. Probable career field: Computer Science. John Jay High School

Zoe E. Mermelstein. Probable career field: International Human Rights. Irvington High School

Clara Montgomery. Probable career field: Undecided. Irvington High School

Jay R. Shenoy of Irvington. Probable career field: Computer Science. Fordham Preparatory School.

Mark C. Worsley of Katonah. Probable career field: Engineering. Somers High School

Boyoung Kim of LaGrangeville. Probable career field: Medicine. Arlington High School

Lucie le Blanc of Larchmont. Probable career field: Computer Science. Mamaroneck High School

Catherine C. Mollerus of Larchmont. Probable career field: Engineering. Rye Country Day School

Kevin Shen of Larchmont. Probable career field: Physics. Mamaroneck High School.

Thomas J. Scanlon. Probable career field: Economics. Mahopac High School

Nathan H. Paumier of Mamaroneck. Probable career field: Biotechnology. French American School of New York

Owen F. Friesen of Nyack. Probable career field: Public Policy. Hackley School

Jonathan Salama. Probable career field: Undecided. Pelham Memorial High School

Samuel I. Gould of Piermont. Probable career field: Biochemistry. Tappan Zee High School

Lara I. Carr. Probable career field: Computer Science. Pine Bush High School

Vincent X. Li of Poughkeepsie. Probable career field: Chemistry. Spackenkill High School

Leah Mozeshtam of Poughkeepsie. Probable career field: Law. Spackenkill High School

Elizabeth E. Ayton. Probable career field: Biological Engineering. Rhinebeck Central School

Aarsh A. Desai. Probable career field: Medicine. Rye High School

Allison R. Hufford. Probable career field: Writing. Rye High School

John C. McCordick of Rye. Probable career field: English Literature. Regis High School

Bryan A. Weintraub of Rye Brook. Probable career field: Hotel/Restaurant Management. Blind Brook High School

Anshul Barnwal of Scarsdale. Probable career field: Political Science. Edgemont High School

Christie Du of Scarsdale. Probable career field: Psychology. Thomas Mann School

Zoe L. Ewing. Probable career field: Law. Scarsdale High School

Zachary J. Gold of Scarsdale. Probable career field: Neuroscience. Ardsley High School

Michelle Kim of Scarsdale. Probable career field: Law. Edgemont High School

Michael S. Landau. Probable career field: Finance. Scarsdale High School

Keshav M. Rastogi. Probable career field: International Development. Scarsdale High School

Federico J. Reyes Gomez of Scarsdale. Probable career field: Computer Science. Edgemont High School

Lauren H. Singer. Probable career field: Neuroscience. Scarsdale High School

David J. Friedman. Probable career field: Undecided. Sleepy Hollow High School

Alexander Popov of Tarrytown. Probable career field: Physics. Hackley School

Andrew P. Lam of Wappingers Falls. Probable career field: Medicine. Our Lady of Lourdes High School

This year’s National Merit Scholarship Program began in October 2015 when over 1.6 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. Last fall, the highest-scoring participants in each state, representing less than one percent of the nation’s high school seniors, were named Semifi nalists on a state-representational basis.

Only these 16,000 Semifinalists had an opportunity to continue in the competition.

From the Semifinalist group, some 15,000 students met the very high academic standards and other requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. By the conclusion of the 2017 program, about 7,500 Finalists will have earned the “Merit Scholar” title and received a total of over $32 million in college scholarships.

ALSO SEE: 2017 National Merit Scholarships: 12 Local Students Named in First Round

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