On Monday, 26 seniors were recognized as National Merit Semifinalists at a Board of Trustees meeting. Students qualified based on scores from the PSAT/NMSQT exam taken during their junior year.
“The National Merit scholarship program is an annual academic competition for talent recognition and college scholarships,” said Jose Salas, the advanced academics and testing campus coordinator. “We are so very proud of [the students’] accomplishments, and we look forward to watching [them] continue to succeed with us here in Allen ISD and beyond.”
Salas said the program encourages students to maintain rigorous academic studies.
“About 16,000 students have been named National Merit Semifinalists due to their scores in this examination,” Salas said. “In the state of Texas, students with a selection index score of 222 or higher have been named semifinalists. 1,673 Texas high school students met the scoring criterion to receive this exciting accreditation.”
The scholarship is selective across the entire country, with only one percent of all U.S. graduating seniors receiving the semifinalist title. The semifinalists are Jake W Bailey, Aarnav Bansal, Ashley Chen, Mark G Church, Andrew P Dai, Aaditya Ghosh, Ektoras Huang, Allison J Hughes, Kingston A Huynh, Sebin M James, Zohaib S Khan, Manu Kutagula, Advaiya Lad, Adrian C Lin, Joel T Mathew, Vedant Mohapatra, Ramiz A Nackvi, Kavela P Putcha, Uzair A Rahman, Aaryan P Salunke, Saanavi Shah, Saketh Sripada, Alex Wang, Andrew C Wang, Sahasra Yellepeddi and Chunyue Zheng.
When asked about his advice for students preparing for the PSAT, senior Aaditya Ghosh said to start studying earlier.
“But don’t let yourself get too stressed about school, because it’ll only make you do worse [on the exam],” Ghosh said. “So, stay relaxed.”
Around $33 million in merit scholarships will be awarded to students in the National Merit Finalist Competition, and many colleges recognize any level of recognition. To advance to the Finalist level, Semifinalists will need to submit an application, a personal essay and an academic record. Finalists will be announced in February 2026.
“I [will] definitely take advantage of the scholarship money that colleges offer for [National Merit Semifinalists],” senior Joel Mathew said. “A lot of colleges see that, and it’s a big plus.”
Mathew said that he was really happy, albeit shocked, that he qualified to be a National Merit Semifinalist.
“Surprisingly, I did really well on English,” Mathew said. “I got a perfect score in English. I think going over all the rules specifically tested on the PSAT really helped [me], so I wasn’t just going off of what sounded right. I actually knew what rules I had to follow.”
