Simi Edeki '22 and Nick Zhu '22 named National Merit Scholarship Winners and Co-Valedictorians

Simi plans on studying Computational and Applied Mathematics at the University of Chicago, where she has also joined the track team. Nick will be majoring in Operations Research and Financial Engineering at Princeton University. In addition to being a National Merit Scholar, Simi Edeki was selected as a semifinalist in the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program, one of the nation’s highest honors for students. Both Simi and Nick earned the title of valedictorian for the Class of 2022 and will end their high school careers with an address to their class at graduation on June 5, 2022. 

The 2,500 National Merit $2500 Scholarships are the awards for which every Finalist is considered. Winners are named in every state, in numbers based on the state’s percentage of the nation’s graduating high school seniors. Among all students who entered the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program, only about 16,000 were named Semifinalists. They were designated on a state representational basis, in proportion to each state’s percentage of the national total of graduating high school seniors. In order to advance in the competition and be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, a Semifinalist had to become a Finalist by fulfilling several requirements that included submitting a detailed scholarship application and presenting a record of very high academic performance. All winners of about 7,500 National Merit Scholarships are being chosen from the group of approximately 15,000 distinguished Finalists.