Yesterday, officials of National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced the names of more than 16,000 Semifinalists in the 70th annual National Merit Scholarship Program, 35 of which are Carroll Senior High School seniors. The students’ parents were invited to campus by Principal Ryan Wilson as a surprise to make the moment even more special for them.
“It’s a great feeling being announced a semifinalist, and I’m really grateful to my parents for helping me and inspiring me,” senior Ethan Hince said.
The following CSHS seniors were notified of their Semifinalist status: Vivek Athipatla, Ayan Bakshi, Kaylynn Bartlett, Paul Kendrick Bray, Jr., Luke Brown, Matthew Cai, Arya Catna, Jack Couch, Ashley Cusick, Sydney Denk, Ethan Fu, Ishani Gandi, Katah Gunter, Mayli Heistein, Audrey Hendrickson, Riley Higginbotham, Ethan Hince, Owen Hindman-Anderson, Aanaputt Patrick Jitrskul, Megha Kadiyala, Pragnya Kaginele, Risha Kanukolanu, Dhruv Kilaru, Ella Le, Sean Le, Shriya Makam, Anson Omar, Sagar Patel, Sanjana Senthil, Tejas Senthil, Riddhima Shanker, Anshika Solleti, Arjan Suri, Sarayu Veluri, Alexander Zhou.
“One of the many excellent traditions protected in Carroll is the success our students have in the National Merit Scholarship program,” Principal Wilson said. “This year’s class of 35 scholars has once again shown the level of incredible intellect possible within a CSHS senior class. I’m a proud principal, so excited for the opportunities that await these amazing young people.”
According to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, these academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 6,870 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million that will be offered next spring. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition.
About 95 percent 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. NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 280 business organizations and higher education institutions that share NMSC’s goals of honoring the nation’s scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.
Over 1.3 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2023 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.
To become a Finalist, the Semifinalist 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.
From over 16,000 Semifinalists, more than 15,000 are expected to advance to the Finalist level, and in February they will be notified of this designation. All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from this group of Finalists. Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference.
Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2025. Every Finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $2500 Scholarships that will be awarded on a state-representational basis. About 770 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 130 corporations and business organizations for Finalists who meet their specified criteria, such as children of the grantor’s employees or residents of communities where sponsor plants or offices are located. In addition about 150 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 3,600 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for Finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.
National Merit Scholarship winners of 2025 will be announced beginning in April and concluding in July. These scholarship recipients will join more than 382,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.
