A total of 18 Bridgewater-Raritan High School students--the largest number over the past five years-- have been named semifinalists for the National Merit Scholarship Corporation’s 71st annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced the names of the Bridgewater-Raritan High School students who are among the more than 16,000 semifinalists in this elite program from throughout the country.
Since 2022, the number of National Merit Scholarship Program semifinalists from Bridgewater-Raritan High School has increased.
The 18 semifinalists this year were an improvement over last year's 16 semifinalists named at Bridgewater-Raritan High School. There were 13 students named in 2024, 12 in 2023, and 10 in 2022.
Principal Dan Hemberger of Bridgewater-Raritan High School applauded both the students and the educational system for the annual increase in the number of semifinalists.
“Each year, it is inspiring to recognize our National Merit Finalists and Commended Students," Principal Hemberger said. " Watching these numbers grow year after year is a true testament to our students' hard work and the strength of the academic program at Bridgewater-Raritan High School. Congratulations!"
According to a press release from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, these academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue competing for some 6,930 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million, which will be offered in the spring of 2027.
To be considered for a National Merit Scholarship award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the National Merit Scholarship Finalist level of the competition. About 95 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and approximately half will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the title of Merit Scholar.
Over 1.3 million juniors in about 20,000 high schools entered the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2024 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.
National Merit Scholarship winners of 2026 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July. These scholarship recipients will join approximately 389,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the title of Merit Scholar.
Here are the 18 Bridgewater-Raritan High School students who have been named semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship program.
Chole Amato
Saharsh S Bangaru
Lucia A. Bolle
Shiven Das
Anna X Gu
Harshit Kondle
Wesley H Lin
Sophia X. Liu
Kairav Mehta
Apurva Ramasamy
Dhiya Selvakumar
Ishaan A.Shetty
Jigar H.Shroff
Pranav Swarna
Vedaang Verma
Jasmine O. Young
Ethan Zhang
Guanqi Zhu