Seven Thomas Jefferson Seniors Win National Merit Scholarships

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA -- The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced 3,200 college-sponsored scholarship winners Wednesday. Of those, seven were from Fairfax County's Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.

The TJHSST seniors were seven of 28 chosen from Virginia. The school had the most winners in Virginia.

Here are the TJHSST seniors and their college plans:

• Emma Cuddy of Alexandria: She will study physics at Mudd College in Claremont, Calif.
• Ishaan Gandhi of Ashburn: He will study human rights at Mudd College in Claremont, Calif.
• Emma Bachman of Chantilly: She will study environmental engineering at University of Oklahoma.
• Alvin Shi of Great Falls: He will study physics at University of Chicago.
• Jillian Khoo of North Springfield: She will study computer science at University of Southern California.
• Sofiya Boroday of Oak Hill: She will study linguistics at the University of Chicago.
• Grey Golla of Oak Hill: He will study computer engineering at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind.

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Another winner from the Alexandria area is Mary Jane MacArthur of West Springfield High School. She will study international development at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

Financed by 182 colleges and universities, the scholarships provide between $500 and $2,000 each year for up to four years of an undergraduate program. The sponsoring colleges include 103 private and 79 public institutions in 44 states and DC.

Earlier in the spring, winners of corporate-sponsored and $2,500 National Merit Scholarships were announced. More winners will be announced in July, bringing the total of college-sponsored scholarships to 4,000. In all, 7,500 high school seniors will receive $32 million in National Merit Scholarships, sponsored by both corporations and higher education institutions.

Students were entered into the competition by taking the Preliminary SATs as juniors. In the fall, 16,000 semifinalists were named, representing less than 1 percent of the country's seniors. Semifinalists submitted additional applications with an essay, information about extracurricular activities, leadership positions and awards, and a recommendation from a school official.

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