Schools
2026 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists Announced. These South Bay Students Made The Cut
Dozens of South Bay students were selected as semifinalists for the prestigious scholarship and will be competing for Merit Scholar status.
PALOS VERDES, CA — Dozens of South Bay high school students have been announced as semifinalists for the National Merit Scholarship Program. Here's what that means.
The nonprofit program was started in 1955 as a way to honor the most academically talented high school seniors and help them achieve their full potential, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.
Millions of high school students apply each year for the chance to get their higher educucation efforts funded. But only a few thousand will be selected to receive any sort of financial support.
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"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 nonprofit ssaid in a statement Wednesday. "Merit Scholr designees are selected one the basis of their skill, accomplishmetns and potential for success in rigorous college studies."
The following South Bay students were selected as semifinalists for the award:
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South High School (Torrance)
- Andrew Han
- Junue Jang
California Academy of Mathematics and Science (Carson)
- Yumi Lee
- Joel Penetrante
- Owen Sun
Palos Verdes High School (Palos Verdes Estates)
- Logan J. Kim
- Wesley K. Wang
- Charles T. Yim
Chadwick School (Palos Verdes Peninsula)
- Moshi Liu
- Cadence Maas
- Matthew Rosenbaum
- Alistair Ross
- Derek Somers
- Spencer Zeng
Palos Verdes Peninsula High School (Rolling Hills)
- Anish Anand
- Ryan Chiou
- Inu Cho
- Nathan Choi
- Audrey Chu
- Yejun Kang
- Isaac Kim
- Aiden Kwon
- Luke Lee
- Aaron Li
- Nikhil Ramanuja
- Kaili Tseng
- Micah Tu
- Nathaniel Wong
- Katie Wu
Redondo Beach Union (Redondo Beach)
- Giulio Buttari
- Lorelei Choi
- Zander DiLallo
- Katelyn Kang
- Felix Lerch
- Sheamus Swift
- Mackenzie Thomson
- Jonathan Yook
Mira Costa (Manhattan Beach)
- Miles Campbell
- Audrey Henry
- Catherine Jackson
- Emilia Malis
- Lachlan Murphy
- Mary Rothermel
- Brianna Sulaiman
- Collin Tarnay
Da Vinci Science High School (El Segundo)
- Jadon Long
El Segundo High School (El Segundo)
- Aarush Antil
Vistamar High School (El Segundo)
- Mairin King
These students will find out between April and July 2026 whether they've been selected as recipients of the scholarship.
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