More National Merit Scholarship winners announced

Three more Newport Beach students were named National Merit Scholars this week, bringing the city’s total this year to six.

Liana Korber and Tiffany Silverstein, from the private Sage Hill School, were selected along with Kelsey Christensen, from Newport Harbor High School.

Each year, the National Merit Scholarship Corp.awards $35 million in college scholarships to about 8,000 students based on academic achievement.

A statement from the nonprofit Monday announced the final 1,800 recipients who had been selected by colleges to receive annual scholarships of $500 to $2,000.

Korber and Christensen plan to attend Northwestern University, possibly to study industrial engineering and medicine, respectively.

Silverstein will attend Vanderbilt University with an eye toward studying chemical engineering.

Korber lives in Laguna Beach. Both Christensen and Silverstein live in Newport, according to the announcement.

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District has aimed at increasing its number of National Merit Scholars. With the final tally announced, the district has two this year compared with eight last year. Darya Fadavi of Corona del Mar High School won a scholarship in May.

Four Sage Hill students received National Merit Scholarships this year. Darren Chen and Maxwell Davitt were selected for the honor earlier this year.