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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