Connor Orr, from Plainfield East High School, Omer Mescioglu and Serena Sabzaali from Plainfield North High School have been named 2025 National Merit Scholars.
The three are among the 2,500 students nationwide who will receive a $2,500 scholarship.
The scholars were chosen from a pool of more than 15,000 finalists.
“These exceptional students exemplify the pursuit of academic excellence that we foster throughout District 202,” said Dr. Glenn Wood, Superintendent of Schools.
“We take immense pride in their accomplishments and are confident this prestigious honor will open new doors as they embark on their future endeavors.”
Orr, Mescioglu, and Sabzaali were named finalists in March.
This is the 70th year of the prestigious program, which honors academically talented high school seniors.
To become a National Merit Finalist, students must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by the school principal, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student’s earlier qualifying performance.
The finalist and a school official must also submit a detailed scholarship application, including the student’s self-descriptive essay and information about the student’s participation and leadership in school and community activities.
About 1.3 million high school juniors in about 21,000 high schools nationwide took the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test to enter the 2025 National Merit Program.
The pool of semifinalists comprises less than one percent of all United States high school seniors and includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state.
About 130 corporations and businesses will also give about 770 corporate-sponsored scholarships to finalists who meet those organizations’ criteria.
And, about 150 colleges and universities are expected to finance about 3,600 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for Finalists attending their sponsoring institution.
The 2025 Merit Scholarship winners will join more than 382,000 other distinguished students who have earned the title of National Merit Scholar.