National Merit Scholar Winner Was Home-Schooled

Nathan Gabriel Huynh is unique among the 22 high school students in Orange County who on Thursday were named recipients of corporate scholarships as part of the National Merit Scholarship program.

Huynh is home-schooled.

The Rancho Santa Margarita teen, who says his likely career is law, is sponsored by the Boeing Co.

He is one of five students from South Orange County.

Also named as National Merit Scholars:

• Edward A. Cleofe (Mission Viejo) of Mission Viejo High, who plans to work in forensic pathology and is sponsored by the Parker Hannifin Corp.
• Alan M. Hoang (Mission Viejo) of Capistrano Valley High, who plans to work in aerospace engineering and is sponsored by BP Foundation.
• Sachin Medhekar (Laguna Niguel) of Dana Hills High, who plans to work in law or engineering and is sponsored by Ethicon.
• Arshia Singh (Lake Forest) of El Toro High, who plans to work in economics or law and is sponsored by Schneider Electric/Square D Foundation.

The scholarships range from $2,500 to $10,000 annually. Additional scholarship award winners will be named May 4, 25, and July 11.

Winners were selected from semifinalists who had scored at least 219 out of 240 on their Preliminary SAT exams, and then substantiated such proficiency with grades, school recommendation, personal essay and final SAT score.