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Six High School Seniors Win College-Sponsored National Merit Scholarships, Additional Winners to be Announced in July

May 24, 1999
Six high school seniors have won college-sponsored National Merit Scholarships, bringing the total number of MCPS Merit scholars to 30 so far this year.

The local scholars are among about 2,400 winners selected from some 15,000 finalists nationwide in the 1999 Merit Program.

In total, MCPS seniors have won 31 percent of the 97 Merit Scholarships awarded to Maryland students this year. Six local students won corporate sponsored scholarships, and 18 seniors won awards funded by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC).

The college-sponsored scholarships will provide between $250 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the sponsor institution.

The MCPS winners, their schools, intended career fields, and sponsoring institutions are:

Montgomery Blair High School

  • Raymond F. Anthracite, physics, Rice University

  • Kyle C. Retterer, computer science/classical studies, University of Maryland

  • Leonid A. Velikovich, computer science, University of Maryland

  • Paul L. Yu, electrical engineering, University of Maryland

    Winston Churchill High School

  • Alexander T. Schulman, film directing/writing, New York University

    Richard Montgomery High School

  • Michael Huang, computer science, University of Maryland

    The winners were chosen from among Merit Program finalists who will attend those institutions by officials of the 206 private and public colleges and universities who sponsored scholarships.

    Students attained finalist status based on criteria such as exceptional performance on standardized tests and in the classroom, strong recommendations from school officials and a statement of goals and interests. The finalists were selected from about 16,000 semifinalists announced last fall. MCPS had 131 semifinalists.

    About 15,000 students advanced to finalist status for the scholarships after meeting rigorous academic criteria. Some 1.2 million students in nearly 20,000 U.S. high schools entered the 1999 Merit Program.

    The NMSC will announce more winners of college-sponsored Merit Scholarships in late July.

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