Two Vienna Seniors Win National Merit Scholarships

VIENNA, VA -- The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced 3,200 college-sponsored scholarship winners Wednesday. Of those, two were from Vienna's James Madison High School: Zipporah Klain and Noah Thompson. Klain will attend the University of Chicago, while Thompson plans to study fine arts at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.

The students were two of 28 chosen in Virginia. 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.

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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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