Seven Archmere Seniors Named National Merit Semifinalists
Archmere seniors Kabir Goyal, Chloe Li, Michael Liu, Daniel Qi, Valentina Ramos, Angela Zhang and Audrey Zou have been named National Merit Semifinalists. The officials of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation used their high scores on the PSAT's, taken in their junior year, as an initial screen for program entrants. Only 16,000 students (of approximately 1.3 million) 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.
To be considered for a National Merit Scholarship, Semifinalists must advance to Finalist standing in the competition. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than 1% 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.
These seven seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 6,390 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $26 million that will be offered next spring. To become a Finalist, the seven Archmere Semifinalists and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the Semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. A Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the student's earlier performance on the qualifying test.
These seven seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 6,390 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $26 million that will be offered next spring. To become a Finalist, the seven Archmere Semifinalists and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the Semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. A Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the student's earlier performance on the qualifying test.
Finalists will be announced in late February and 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 more than 389,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.
In addition, eleven Archmere seniors were among the top 50,000 high scorers on the PSAT and will receive the recognition of being named National Merit Commended Students, in recognition of their outstanding academic promise. These students are: Ethan Flores, Darren Luo, Andres Ramos, Rebecca Wang, Selena Yang, Omar Hefnawi, Olivia Benson, CC Kittila, Paige Noval, Owen Parsons and Sarah Dahms.
In addition, eleven Archmere seniors were among the top 50,000 high scorers on the PSAT and will receive the recognition of being named National Merit Commended Students, in recognition of their outstanding academic promise. These students are: Ethan Flores, Darren Luo, Andres Ramos, Rebecca Wang, Selena Yang, Omar Hefnawi, Olivia Benson, CC Kittila, Paige Noval, Owen Parsons and Sarah Dahms.
Archmere Academy is a private, Catholic, college preparatory co-educational academy,
grades 9-12 founded in 1932 by the Norbertine Fathers.
grades 9-12 founded in 1932 by the Norbertine Fathers.
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