Monroe-Woodbury High School senior, Anushree Buragohain, was recently selected by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) as a winner of a $2,500 scholarship.

NMSC is a national academic competition in which high school students apply to receive scholarships. To qualify for these scholarships, students must achieve a high PSAT score. Every year, there are 16,000 semi-finalists and 15,000 finalists. Out of the 15,000 finalists, only 2,500 winners are chosen for the National Merit Scholarship of $2,500.

Anushree Buragohain is an accomplished student. She is on the girls varsity golf team, the president of Spanish Honor Society, Mock Trial and Crochet for a Cause. She is also a member of National Honor Society, Math Honor Society, and Tri-Music Honor Society. She plans to study political science on a pre-law track at the University of Connecticut in the fall.

“I think it took a lot of hard work,” said Buragohain.

Buragohain wasn’t preparing for the PSAT but the SAT. The PSAT was during the same period she was studying for the SAT.

Every weekend, Buragohain would wake up at 7:30 in the morning, eat breakfast and start a practice test at 8 a.m. During the week, she would practice different sections and concepts.

Buragohain explained that preparing for the scholarship wasn’t something she was really focused on. “I was really more focused on my SAT and college applications,” she said.

“I knew that taking the PSAT would let you qualify for it. So, I decided to take my chances and see what would happen. So really, everything worked out perfectly,” she explained.

After Buragohain took the PSAT, she received an email that she was a National Merit Semi-finalist. After that, she had to fill out an application and write a personal statement.

Eventually, in the beginning of the year, Buragohain found out that she was a finalist. After finding out she was a finalist, she had to put down her first choice college and National Merit would tell them that they were her first choice if they got in. From this, the school can offer scholarships themselves. This is where the bigger scholarships come from.

Later, Buragohain received an email that she had won the $2,500 National Merit Scholarship.

“I think it’s a good thing to shoot for if you’re a junior and preparing for the SAT anyway because you never know what could happen,” said Buragohain.