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28 Feb 2009

Palanpuri student is finalist for top US scholarship competition

Monika Kothari, daughter of Smita and Nikhil Kothari of Canton , USA has been selected as a finalist for the USA National Merit Scholarship Program for high school graduates, qualifying in the list of the top 1% of US High School grads that was released recently. The selection comes after she successfully came through three rigorous rounds of testing that began in April 2008, with more than 1.5 million entrants participating at the initial level.

The National Merit® Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships. It is run by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), an independent, not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, established in 1955.

The goals of the NMSC are:
• to identify and honor academically talented U.S. high school students;
• to stimulate increased support for their education; and
• to provide efficient and effective scholarship program management for organizations that wish to sponsor college undergraduate scholarships.

Since its founding, NMSC has recognized 3 million students and provided over 335,000 scholarships worth more than $1.3 billion. Merit Scholarship awards are supported by some 500 independent sponsors and by NMSC's own funds. Sponsor organizations include corporations and businesses, company foundations, professional associations, and colleges and universities.

Currently, Monika is a co-captain of her high school Science Olympiad team and Model United Nations Team. Also, in both ACT & SAT tests for college admissions, she placed in the 99th percentile (top 1%).

The winner’s list will be announced between March and June 2009.