This year marks the National Merit Scholarship Program’s 72nd year. More than 16,000 Semifinalists and 34,000 Commended Students were announced by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) this fall. Semifinalists can continue in the competition for some 6,700 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $24 million, which will be offered in the spring.
To be considered for a National Merit Scholarship award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. About 95% of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and approximately half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.
High school juniors entered the 2027 National Merit Scholarship Competition by taking the 2025 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.
Bravo to our Semifinalists, recognized at our Upper School Assembly on Friday, October 2, 2026:
Semifinalists
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Dhruv Avirneni ’27
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Lola Compton ’27
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Forest Gong ’27
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Nathan Kura ’27
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Navya Reddy ’27
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Kaviya Senthilkumar ’27
Additionally, we are proud to honor the following Commended Students:
Commended
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Fatima Abosalem ’27
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Harshita Ahuja ’27
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Myra Arain ’27
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Catherine Cai ’27
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Isaac George ’27
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Amey Parwal ’27
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Eric Zhang ’27
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Ethan Zhou ’27
