Dylan Tanouye is among a handful of La Cañada Flintridge students who have received the honor of being a National Merit Scholarship Winner.
Other students in the district who were awarded the scholarship included Elyse Hwang, Mia Kronson, Jessica Li and Xiaohe Tang.
“I was very surprised when I heard the news, since I knew that out of the thousands of talented finalists, only about half are picked to receive scholarships and I didn’t expect to be among them,” said Tanouye. “However, my parents and I were thrilled to have some extra money to put towards my college tuition.”
Students automatically participate in the National Merit Scholarship program when they take the PSAT in their junior year, according to the Director of Communications at Flintridge Prep, Nicole Trevor.
“These scholars were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors, who appraised a substantial amount of information submitted by both the finalists and their high schools: the 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; an essay written by the finalist; and a recommendation written by a high school official,” the National Merit Scholarship Corporation said in a statement.
Tanouye, who earned the $2,500 scholarship, is honored to be one of the few students who achieved this milestone.
“It’s a huge honor to be one of the national merit finalists selected to receive a scholarship,” said Tanouye. “Given how expensive education has gotten, any amount goes a long way to help alleviate the financial burdens.”
While taking the PSAT, he didn’t even have the National Merit Scholarship in mind, “but when I got my results and learned I placed in the top 1% of students in the state I started working on the application to become a finalist. I spent time trying to differentiate myself from other students through the application essay, and it ended up being good preparation for my college applications.”
Tanouye is interested in going into political science as a possible career and will be attending Tufts University, located in Boston, in the Fall.
“Political science has been my primary interest throughout high school, and this definitely stemmed from my participation in speech and debate which required me to stay up to date with current events and research potential arguments to support all sides of controversial issues,” said Tanouye. “Some of the classes I took throughout high school such as AP Government, International Relations and AP United States History helped me learn even more about both foreign and domestic politics in an engaging manner that encouraged me to continue to expand my interest outside of school.”
First published in the June 8 print issue of the Outlook Valley Sun.
