Thirty-Seven FCPS Students Named National Merit Scholarship Winners

Thirty-seven students from nine Fairfax County high schools have been named winners of $2,500 scholarships from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC). Scholarship winners are part of a group of approximately 2,500 National Merit finalists chosen to receive scholarships in 2023 primarily financed by the NMSC.  

Winners of the scholarships, with their probable career fields in parentheses, are: 

• Saira Nagda (medicine), West Potomac High School. 
• Tanish Jain (computer science), Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST). 
• Jessica Yixiu Wang (computer science), TJHSST.
• Rohan Puri (industrial engineering), Lake Braddock Secondary School.
• Amit Sai Erraguntla (computer science), TJHSST.
• Rachel Yian Lee (international business), Chantilly High School.
• Aditya Vasantharao (computer science), TJHSST.
• Tarini Basireddy (biomedical engineering), TJHSST.
• Jessica Chung (astrophysics), TJHSST.
• Bryan Hong (biomedical engineering), TJHSST.
• Sean Noh (computer science), Oakton High School.
• Grace Guan (statistics), TJHSST.
• Josephine Amspaugh (neuroscience), Langley High School.
• Angela Zhang (computer science), TJHSST.
• Utkarsh Bansal (finance), Westfield High School.
• Audhav Durai (computer science), TJHSST.
• Srihan Kotnana (computer science), Westfield High School.
• Deccan Maniam (computer engineering), TJHSST.
• Sudeep Orvoy (pediatrics), Chantilly High School.
• Timothy Johanson (chemistry), TJHSST.
• Taein Kim (computer science), TJHSST.
• Stephanie Ma (civil engineering), Langley High School.
• Alexander Pomper (science/research), Langley High School.
• Anisha Talreja (business), TJHSST.
• Emma Yang (medicine), McLean High School.
• Olivia Zhang (public health), McLean High School.
• Isabella Xindi Zhu (computer science), TJHSST.
• Lillian Zhu (economics), TJHSST.
• Sauman Das (computer science), TJHSST.
• Cindy Li (computer science), Oakton High School.
• Jeffrey Cheng (aerospace engineering), McLean High School. 
• Lauren Hyde (computer science), TJHSST.
• Ethan Caldwell (historian of science), TJHSST.
• Deborah Saemee Kim (biomedicine), Marshall High School.
• Daliya Sakina Rizvi (surgical medicine), Langley High School.
• Nimesh Rudra (medicine), TJHSST.
• Brian Zhou, TJHSST.

Each of the FCPS winners received a scholarship supported by the NMSC’s own funds. 

Each scholarship winner was evaluated on his or her academic record, including difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned; scores from two standardized tests; contributions and leadership in school and community activities; a personal essay; and a recommendation from a high school official. The number of winners named in a state is in proportion to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating high school seniors. Winners are chosen by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, not the school district.

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