The last round of National Merit Scholarship Winners was released on Monday, and the list includes a couple more students from local high schools.
Drew C. Mackereth, a resident of Argyle who graduated from Argyle High School, earned a scholarship to go to Tulsa University. There, he will study to pursue a career in biochemistry.
The second winner announced was from Lewisville ISD.
Sofia A. Akhter, a resident of Flower Mound who graduated from Flower Mound High School, earned a scholarship to go to the University of Texas at Dallas.
There, she will Judy to pursue a career in computer science.
Only a couple new students have been named winners in the July release, but they add to the long list of southern Denton County students that have earned the National Merit Scholarship this year.
In May, 11 students from Lewisville ISD and two students from Northwest ISD were named scholarship recipients.
Another round of scholars were announced in June, which featured 33 students from Lewisville ISD and one from Northwest ISD.
2025 National Merit Scholarship Competition
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.
The final group of winners brings the nationwide total to 7,100 students. A total of $26 million worth of scholarships are distributed among them.
High school juniors entered the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program when they took the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants. Last fall, more than 16,000 semifinalists were named on a state-representational basis in numbers proportional to each state’s percentage of the national total of graduating high school seniors. Semifinalists were the highest-scoring program entrants in each state and represented less than one percent of the nation’s seniors.
To compete for Merit Scholarship awards, semifinalists first had to advance to the Finalist level of the competition by fulfilling additional requirements. Each semifinalist was asked to submit a detailed scholarship application, which included writing an essay and providing information about extracurricular activities, awards and leadership positions. Semifinalists also had to have an outstanding academic record, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirmed the qualifying test performance. From the semifinalist group, over 15,000 met requirements for finalist standing, and about half of the finalists will be Merit Scholarship winners in 2025.
NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 to conduct the National Merit Scholarship Program. The majority of National Merit Scholarships provided each year are made possible by the support of approximately 280 independent corporate and college sponsors. These sponsors join NMSC in its efforts to enhance educational opportunities for America’s scholastically talented youth and to encourage the pursuit of academic excellence.
