Christopher High Student Wins National Merit Scholarship

One student from Gilroy's Christopher High School is among approximately 2,500 high school seniors who have won National Merit Scholarship awards, the organization announced Wednesday.

These scholarships, which differ from the corporate scholarships announced in late April, are for $2,500 and are not renewable.

According to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, the $2,500 scholarship recipients were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors based on the academic record of the applicants, standardized test scores, leadership, an essay and a letter of recommendation from a school official.

Gilroy's Jeffrey J. Kong was the only local to receive the award. The organization lists his probable career field as medicine. 

About 1.5 million high school juniors in about 22,000 high schools entered the 2013 National Merit Scholarship competition when they took the 2011 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, according to the NMSC. About 16,000 semifinalists—fewer than one percent of the nation's seniors—were announced in September 2012.

For National Merit Scholarship consideration, semifinalists had to complete a detailed scholarship application, have an outstanding academic record, be recommended by a high school official, and earn qualifying SAT scores, according to NMSC. About 15,000 met the requirements to become a finalist.

About 8,000 finalists will receive scholarships totaling more than $35 million by the end of the 2013 competition.