3 Henrico students earn National Merit Scholarships

Three Henrico students are among the 68 Virginia high school students to receive the National Merit Scholarship.

Mitali Barik of Henrico High School, Mia Lu of Deep Run High School and Daniel Bazianos of Douglas S. Freeman High School were among the 2,500 recipients of the $2,500 scholarships.

The recipients were chosen from more than 15,000 finalists, and the number of winners from each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the nation’s graduating high school seniors.

The recipients were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors. Taken into consideration were their academic record, including difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned; scores from the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, contributions and leadership in school and community activities; a written essay and a recommendation from a high school official.

NMSC, a not-for-profit corporation that operates without government assistance, was founded in 1955 specifically to conduct the National Merit Scholarship Program. The majority of scholarships offered each year are underwritten by approximately 400 independent corporate and college sponsors that share NMSC’s goals of honoring scholastically talented youth and encouraging academic excellence at all levels of education.