The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) on Wednesday released its list of 2026 semifinalists, naming high-achieving high school juniors who will compete for approximately 6,930 scholarships totaling nearly $26 million. Winners will be announced nationally between April and July 2026.
In Pasadena, semifinalists were named:
Blair High School
• Griffin, Joel
La Salle High School
• Lai, Cory
Maranatha High School
• Lee, Griffin
Pasadena HS
• Karapetyan, Maria
• Monson, Jacob
• Nash, Zachary
• Nunes, Zalea
• Sinclair, Megan
Polytechnic School
• Benitez, Joseph
• Burt, Clive
• Chen, Evan
• Cheung, Ginny
• Cho, August
• Chui, Alexander
• Delbridge, Madeleine
• Engstrom, Ellery
• Fish, Filiz
• Ismagilov, Daniel
• Shin, Brandon
• Venuturupalli, Akhil
• Zhang, Allison
• Zhang, Michael
Westridge School
• Chen, Zihan
• Liu, Meicen
• Tan, Olivia
This marks the 71st year of the prestigious academic competition. Semifinalists were selected based on their performance on the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which was taken by more than 1.3 million juniors across roughly 20,000 U.S. high schools. Less than 1% of high school seniors nationwide qualified as semifinalists.
To advance, semifinalists must submit a detailed application that includes SAT or ACT scores, a personal essay, and a recommendation from a school official. Finalists are chosen based on academic records, extracurricular involvement, leadership experience, employment history, and honors received.
Of the approximately 16,000 semifinalists, more than 15,000 are expected to reach finalist status. Finalist notifications will be sent in February 2026.
From the finalist pool, about half will receive scholarships in one of three categories:
• National Merit $2,500 Scholarships: Awarded to 2,500 students on a state-representational basis.
• Corporate-Sponsored Scholarships: Approximately 830 awards funded by 150 corporations and business organizations, often based on criteria such as parental employment or geographic location.
• College-Sponsored Scholarships: Around 3,600 scholarships financed by 150 colleges and universities for students planning to attend those institutions.
All winners are selected based on their accomplishments, skills, and potential for college success. They will join the ranks of nearly 389,000 past recipients who have earned the title of Merit Scholar.
Students interested in future competitions must register for the PSAT/NMSQT through their high schools. Additional information is available at nationalmerit.org or via the informational link tinyurl.com/mrx4t933.
Founded in 1955, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation is an independent, nonprofit organization that operates without government funding. Its mission is to recognize academically dedicated students, promote educational excellence, and encourage scholarship sponsorship.
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