This morning at Carroll Senior High School, 32 seniors were officially awarded as National Merit Semifinalists. Parents of these individuals were invited to come and surprise their kids by gathering in the library where refreshments were provided.
“It was really great to see my hard work paid off,” Nandita Shetty (12) said. “Being recognized by the school through the ceremony made me feel amazing. It was a lot of fun to celebrate with my dad and my friends.”
According to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, Semifinalists are the highest scorers in the United States and represent less that one percent of each state’s high school seniors. Students who qualify as semifinalists, based on their PSAT performance, are the only program participants who can advance to the finalist level to compete for National Merit scholarships.
These academically talented students now have the opportunity to continue in the competition for nearly $26 million in scholarships that will be awarded in the spring of 2026. Semifinalists will now move forward in the process, which includes submitting a detailed scholarship application, maintaining strong academic performance, and achieving SAT or ACT scores that confirm their earlier PSAT results. About 95 percent of semifinalists are expected to become finalists, with roughly half of those earning the prestigious title of National Merit Scholar.
Carroll Senior High’s 2026 National Merit Semifinalists are:
- Aarav Agarwal
- Zoha Askari
- Carissa Chandra
- Benjamin Conley
- Veer Dave
- Nita Dutta
- Marlee Fraser
- Penelope Gerrick
- Abigail Graul
- Joel Hansen
- Bryan He
- Hasan Khan
- Ryan Kollar
- Gavin Li
- Justin Lim
- Aditi Nagunoori
- Danielle Nef
- Yueyang Niu
- Thomas Paskvan
- Isha Ponoth
- Mayli Reinke
- Eric Revell
- Gibran Saleem
- Akhil Sanapalavenkata
- Aryav Sharma
- Nandita Shetty
- Gavin Strange
- Abhishek Tyagi
- Nihitha Veerapalli
- Natalie Wang
- Vivien Wang
- William Zhang
