Four students from Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring and one student from Paint Branch High School in Burtonsville were among the 21 Montgomery County Public School students to earn National Merit Scholarships, more than half of the 39 recipients in Maryland.

Alla Avakova of Montgomery Blair High School will attend Northeastern University in Boston to study neuroscience.

Shiv R. Kaul of Montgomery Blair High School will attend the University of Maryland, College Park to study electrical engineering.

Andrew Weixin Lu of Montgomery Blair High School will attend Boston University to study engineering.

Mengdhi Shi of Montgomery Blair High School will attend Rice University in Houston to study economics.

Benedict J. Wills of Paint Branch High School will attend the University of Maryland, College Park to study accounting.

Each sponsoring college or university selected scholarship winners from among finalists in the 2012 National Merit Scholarship Program. These awards provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study.