Philadelphia Students Named National Merit Scholarship Winners

PHILADELPHIA — Three students in Philadelphia have been named National Merit Scholarship winners.

These three students won $2,500 scholarships.

They are among 2,500 Merit Scholar designees who were chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 finalists in the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program.

Below are local winners:

Connor P. O'Brien, Fort Washington
St. Joseph's Preparatory School
Probable career field: International Relations

Denny Cao, Philadelphia
Julia R. Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School
Probable career field: Computer Science

Lucianna Ngo, Philadelphia
Julia R. Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School
Probable career field: Medicine

These students 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 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.