Five Lake Washington SD Students Earn National Merit Scholarships

REDMOND, WA —Five students in the Lake Washington School District (LWSD) on Tuesday were named as recipients of National Merit $2,500 Scholarships, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced.

The LWSD students are among the 48 winners in the state of Washington and 2,500 winners nationwide.

The winners were selected from a talent pool of more than 15,000 finalists for the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program. The awards are financed by the nonprofit NMSC.

"National Merit $2,500 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 NMSC said in a statement.

The LWSD winners are:

• Anjana Begur (from Redmond), Eastlake High School
• Anish Pal (from Redmond), Redmond High School
• Eric Zhou (from Redmond), Redmond High School
• Jasmine T. Herri (from Sammamish), International Community School
• Christine X. Ye (from Sammamish), Eastlake High School

According to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, the $2,500 Scholarship winners are selected by a committee of college admissions officers and counselors.

The students are selected for the honor based on their academic record, including the 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.

Scholars may use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university, according to the NMSC.

Tuesday's release was the second announcement of winners in the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program. On April 27, about 1,000 students were named as recipients of the corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards. Later this summer, 4,000 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship winners will be announced.