Five Auburn seniors named National Merit finalists
FEBRUARY 9, 2009 - Five seniors at Auburn High School have advanced to the finalist level in the prestigious National Merit Scholarship competition.
Kelsey Campbell, Taylor Chuchna, Kendell Coates, Zhengchuan Jiang and Sivakumar Sundaram will receive a minimum financial gift of $2,500 if they are named Merit Scholars in March. The nonprofit-awarded scholarships recognize students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies.
Campbell, Chuchna, Coates, Jiang and Sundaram were among 1.5 million juniors from 21,000 high schools who took a qualifying test when the competition began in 2008. If they receive the title of Merit Scholar, they will rank among 8,200 seniors who share $35 million in scholarships.
Merit Scholars are selected based on their academic records, SAT scores, school leadership, community activities and self-descriptive essays. Approximately 90 percent of the competition�s semifinalists, who were announced in September, progressed to finalist based on factors including their first-semester senior grades and the submission of letters of recommendation. |
