Gwinnett County Public Schools seniors awarded National Merit $2,500 Scholarships

     Seven Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) seniors have been named 2025 National Merit $2,500 Scholarships recipients. Sponsored by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation® (NMSC), the scholarship will help fund the student’s college education. The awardees are apart of a group of distinguished students nationwide judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies. National Merit $2,500 Scholarship winners from Gwinnett are: 

Brookwood High School 

Ariel S. Kim 
Probable career field: Law 

William G. Makely
Probable career field: Law

Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology 

Ethan K. Son 
Probable career field: Undecided

North Gwinnett High School

Fiona Chen
Probable career field: Mechanical Engineering

Joseph D. Farkas
Probable career field: Robotics

Dilan P. Shingadia
Probable career field: Medicine

Paul Duke STEM High School

Adeleine G. Ebert
Probable career field: Food Science

     Approximately 2,500 distinguished high school seniors nationwide have earned the $2,500 scholarships, the second group of winners announced in the 70th annual National Merit Scholarship program. NMSC finances most of these single-payment National Merit $2500 Scholarships. Corporations and company foundations that sponsor awards through NMSC also help underwrite these scholarships with grants they provide in lieu of paying administrative fees.  

     Scholars were selected from students who advanced to the finalist level in the National Merit Scholarship competition. The number of winners named in each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the nation’s graduating high school seniors. Recipients can use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university of their choice. 

     High school juniors entered the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program when they took the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test® (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The highest-scoring participants in each state were then selected as semifinalists. From the semifinalist group, more than 15,000 met the very high academic standards and other requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition.  

     This is the second announcement of National Merit Scholars in 2025 by National Merit Scholarship Corporation® (NMSC). NMSC will also name college-sponsored Merit Scholarship award recipients in June and July. By the conclusion of this year’s competition, more than 6,900 academic champions will have won National Merit Scholarships worth approximately $26 million.