Crescenta Valley High School student David Kahdian was among the winners of this year’s National Merit Scholarship awards, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced April 24.
Scholars were selected from students who advanced to the finalist level in the National Merit Scholarship competition and met criteria of their scholarship sponsors. Corporate sponsors provide National Merit Scholarships for finalists who are children of their employees, who are residents of communities the company serves, or who plan to pursue college majors or careers the sponsor wishes to encourage.
Kahdian, who plans to pursue engineering, received a scholarship from L3Harris Technologies, a producer of high-technology communication and information processing systems, equipment and components. The company’s products, which are used in voice and video communications, data processing, data communication and graphic communication, are sold worldwide.
Most of these awards are renewable for up to four years of college undergraduate study and provide annual stipends that range from $1,000 to $10,000 per year. Some provide a single payment between $2,500 and $5,000. Recipients can use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university of their choice.
High school juniors entered the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program when they took the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants.
In September 2023, more than 16,000 semifinalists were designated on a state-representational basis. Semifinalists were the highest-scoring program entrants in each state and represented less than 1% of the nation’s seniors.
To be considered for a National Merit Scholarship, semifinalists were asked to complete a detailed scholarship application, which included writing an essay and providing information about extracurricular activities, awards and leadership positions. Semifinalists also had to have an outstanding academic record, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirmed their qualifying test performance.
The majority of National Merit Scholarships offered each year are underwritten by some 320 independent corporate and college sponsors that support NMSC’s efforts to honor the nation’s scholastically talented youth and encourage academic excellence at all levels of education.
First published in the May 4 print issue of the Glendale News-Press.
