Cupertino's Presidential Scholars Candidates

The U.S. Presidential Scholars Program starts with invitations based on exceptional test scores and concludes with an expense-paid trip to Washington, D. C. in June for the winners at a ceremony sponsored by the White House. There are dozens of Cupertino students who stand a good chance of making that trip.

The program, established by executive order of the President in 1964, recognizes 141 students each year as Presidential Scholars, considered one of the nation’s highest honors for graduating seniors. More than 3,300 students were considered for the honor in 2012.

High scores on either the SAT of the College Board or the ACT of the American College Testing Program during a two-year window are what earn a student an invitation to be considered further. Essays, self-assessments, secondary school reports, academic achievement, personal characteristics, leadership and service activities all factor into the semi-final and final selections.

One male and one female each are selected from each state with an additional, the District of Columbia, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, U.S. families living abroad, and up to 15 at-large scholars.

At the June ceremony students receive a Presidential Scholar Medallion, a handcrafted, 24-carat gold plated medallion from the President, and the opportunity during the weeklong stay to meet government officials, high-powered business men and women, authors, scientists, past Presidential Scholars, and others. Additionally they can attend receptions and other ceremonies, visit museums and monuments.

Semifinalists and non-semifinalists will be notified in mid-April. Scholars and non-scholars will be notified in May. Past winners can be searched here.

National Recognition Weekend is tentatively scheduled for June 15-18. 

A list of nationwide candidates is attached to this article in a PDF, and the list of students with Cupertino connections are listed below:

Cupertino High School

Iyal M. Suresh, Cupertino

Harker School

Victoria Lin, Cupertino

Preeya K. Mehta, Cupertino

Ashvin A. Swaminathan, Cupertino

Robert T. Yeats, Cupertino

Homestead High School

Cale L. Horeff, Sunnyvale

Steven J. Kobori, Sunnyvale

Katherine A. Spack, Sunnyvale

Xijing Zhang, Sunnyvale

Alice Zhou, Sunnyvale

Lynbrook High School

Ramya Auroprem, San Jose

Sidarth S. Conjeevaram, San Jose

Shirley L. Fang, San Jose

Joohyun Lee, Saratoga

Keegan V. Mendonca, San Jose

Haziq F. Siddiqi, San Jose

Jonathan K. Uesato, Saratoga

Jerry Wang, San Jose

Kevin T. Wu, San Jose

Monta Vista High School

Barak Gila, Cupertino

Kevin Guo, Cupertino

William Ho, Cupertino

Spencer Y. Huang, Cupertino

Cynthia J. Mao, Saratoga

Maya P. Reddy, Cupertino

Mark Sinks, Cupertino

Karen E. Ye, Cupertino

Ted A. Yuan, Cupertino

Grace Z. Zhang, Cupertino

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