Deerfield Student Earns 2024 National Merit Scholarships

DEERFIELD, IL — There is some local flavor to the latest installment of 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program award-winners. On the second list of four announced for the 2023-2024 school year, a Deerfield student is one of the recipients of the corporate-sponsored awards.

Liam M. Cooper, of Deerfield (Deerfield High School), was awarded a $2,500 scholarship. His probable career field is mechanical engineering (robotics).

By the conclusion of this year's competition, National Merit Scholarship Corporation estimates more than 6,870 academic champions will have won National Merit Scholarships worth approximately $26 million.

The designees were chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 outstanding finalists in the program.

According to officials, the 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, including: academic record, which includes difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned; scores from the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®); contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essay written by the finalist; and a recommendation written by a high school official.