Five students from IUSD received the prestigious college-sponsored National Merit Scholarships, the highest number awarded to any school district in Orange County.
Each college sponsor selected their scholarship winners from among the Finalists in the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program who plan to attend their institution. These awards provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution financing the scholarship. Each finalist was determined based on an examination of academic records, including course rigor and grades, 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test scores, leadership roles, extracurricular involvement, personal essays and letters of recommendation.
This year, 146 higher education institutions are underwriting Merit Scholarship awards through the National Merit Scholarship Program. Sponsor colleges and universities include 74 private and 72 public institutions located in 42 states and the District of Columbia.
This is the first of two college-sponsored scholarships to be announced, with the second announcement occurring in July. These college-sponsored announcements are the final for the 2025 National Merit Scholarship season.
2025 College-Sponsored Merit Scholars
David Y. Kim, University High School
Probable career field: Neuroscience
National Merit University of Southern California Scholarship
Alex C. Lim, Woodbridge High School
Probable career field: Computer Science
National Merit University of South Florida Scholarship
Jayden C. Peng, University High School
Probable career field: Engineering
National Merit Vanderbilt University Scholarship
Sumanth Sriram, Irvine High School
Probable career field: Statistics
National Merit University of Texas at Dallas Scholarship
Jonathan D. Szeto, University High School
Probable career field: Law
National Merit University of Southern California Scholarship
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