Pleasanton Students Win National Merit Scholarships

PLEASANTON, CA — Five Pleasanton students received National Merit Scholarship awards of $2500, which were awarded by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation's own funds.

In September, more than 16,000 semifinalists were selected on the basis of their PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test scores. To advance to the finalist round, semifinalists needed to have an outstanding academic record, be endorsed or recommended by a high school official, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm their qualifying test performance.

Below are the finalists’ names, schools, and probable career fields:

• Jayden Chen, homeschool/online school, computer engineering
• Kabeer Gupta, Foothill High School, finance
• Helen Hoang, Amador Valley High School, computer engineering
• Vardaan Singhania, Amador Valley High School, computer science
• Leyuan Zhang, Amador Valley High School, musical performance

Winners of college-sponsored Merit Scholarships will be announced June 4 and July 14. By the end of the 2025, more than 6,930 students nationwide will have earned National Merit Scholarships totaling approximately $26 million, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.