National Merit Scholarship: 27 winners from Washtenaw County

About 1.5 million high school juniors in nearly 22,000 high schools across the United States entered the 2012 National Merit competition when they took the 2010 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Last fall, approximately 16,000 semifinalists were named on a state representational basis in numbers proportional to each state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.

Semifinalists were the highest-scoring program entrants in each state and represented less than one percent of the United State’s 12th-graders, according to a NMSC news release.

Semifinalists are asked to submit a detailed scholarship application that must include an essay and a detailed list of extracurricular activities, awards and leadership positions. Semifinalists also must have an “outstanding” academic record, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official and earn SAT scores that confirm the qualifying test performance.

About 15,000 students met these requirements and became National Merit finalists. However, not all receive scholarships.

The local teens that were among the nearly 8,300 students to receive scholarships are listed below.

Ann Arbor
Matthew J. Fligiel, Greenhills School
Northwestern University
Probable career field: Neuroscience Research/Statistics

Joshua V. Fons, Father Gabriel Richard High School
University of St. Thomas
Probable career field: Theology

Jordan Meiller, Skyline High School
Kalamazoo College
Probable career field: Writing

Thomas J. Orr, Pioneer High School
Michigan State University
Probable career field: Interactive Media Design

Nathaniel G. Sloan, Greenhills School
Kenyon College
Probable career field: Business

Chelsea
Daniel Patton, Chelsea High School
University of Chicago
Probable career field: Writing

Dexter
Amy R. Read, Dexter High School
Brigham Young University
Probable career field: Marine Biology

Saline
Heather A. Harmon, Saline High School
Michigan State University
Probable career field: International Relations

Ann Arbor
Jonathan M. Ames, Skyline High School
Marsh & McLennan Companies
Probable career field: Engineering

Heather M. Jue-Wong, Skyline High School
AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals
Probable career field: Public Health

Jonathan M. Jue-Wong, Skyline High School
AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals
Probable career field: Journalism

Ann Arbor
Jing Chai, Huron High School
Probable career field: Law

Amy Chang, Huron High School
Probable career field: Statistics

Julia H. Chen, Pioneer High School
Probable career field: Medicine

Charles I. Geronimus, Pioneer High School
Probable career field: Law

Alexander T. Hassan, Huron High School
Probable career field: Biomedical Engineering

Kathleen Huntzicker, Huron High School
Probable career field: Education (College Professor)

Christopher C. Owyang, Greenhills School
Probable career field: Political Science/Economics

Julia H. Rothchild, Pioneer High School
Probable career field: Undecided

Katherine E. Selwa, Greenhills School
Probable career field: Biology/Medicine

Aoxue Tang, Pioneer High School
Probable career field: Law

Rujia Zha, Huron High School
Probable career field: Chemistry

Jonathan L. Zhou, Huron High School
Probable career field: Environmental Science

Saline
Hayley A. Byrnes, Saline High School
Probable career field: Journalism/English

Aaron M. Mukerjee, Saline High School
Probable career field: Government Service

Superior Township
Marissa E. Thompson, Greenhills School
Probable career field: Education (College Professor)

Whitmore Lake
Hilker Trevor Herman, Dexter High School
Probable career field: Urban Planning

Staff reporter Danielle Arndt covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. Follow her on Twitter @DanielleArndt or email her at daniellearndt@annarbor.com.