URBANA — Seven current Uni students and 12 recent graduates have won 2009 AP Scholar awards for their performance on the College Board's Advanced Placement exams.

The College Board recognizes several levels of accomplishment based on student performance on the exams, including National AP Scholar, AP Scholar with Distinction, AP Scholar with Honor, and AP Scholar. Each honoree will receive a certificate but no monetary award. Current seniors will have their achievements acknowledged on any grade report sent to colleges.

Vaishnavi Giridaran, a 2009 Uni graduate who is now a freshman at Caltech, was named a National AP Scholar. This honor is granted only to students who earn an average grade of at least 4 on all AP exams taken, and grades of 4 or higher on eight or more of these exams.

Four 2009 alums and one current senior won the AP Scholar with Distinction Award by earning an average grade of at least 3.5 on all AP exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams. The honorees are:

• Vaishnavi Giridaran ('09, Caltech)
• Jason He ('09, Northwestern University)
• Karolina Kalbarczyk ('09, Caltech)
• Diana Liu (senior)
• Cheng Luo ('09, Washington University in St. Louis)

Four 2009 graduates and two seniors qualified for the AP Scholar with Honor Award by averaging at least 3.25 on all AP exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams. The honorees are:

• Greg Atherton ('09, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
• Tej Chajed (senior)
• Daniel Cheng (senior)
• Natsuki Nakamura ('09, University of California at Davis)
• Gordon Ruan ('09, Washington University in St. Louis)
• Kareem Sayegh ('09, University of Chicago)

Four 2009 graduates and four seniors earned the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more AP exams with grades of 3 or higher. The AP Scholars are:

• Daniel Borup ('09, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
• Amy Ding (senior)
• Maria Gao (senior)
• Sheri Grill ('09, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor)
• Isaure Hostetter (senior)
• Rachel Hyman ('09, University of Chicago)
• Alan Kessler ('09, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
• Daniel Wilson (senior)

The College Board is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1900. The association consists of more than 5,400 schools, colleges, universities, and other educational organizations. AP exams give high school students an opportunity to earn college credit. The tests are graded according to a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest.

Each year, the College Board works with about 7 million students, 23,000 high schools, and 3,500 colleges through programs such as AP courses and exams, the PSAT/NMSQT, and the SAT.