7 Deerfield Students Named 2026 National Merit Semifinalists

DEERFIELD, IL — Seven Deerfield students were named semifinalists Wednesday in the 71st annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

The high school seniors were among 16,000 named nationwide. Of those students, 6,930 will be chosen to share nearly $26 million in scholarship money, which will be announced in spring 2026.

Over 1.3 million juniors in about 20,000 high schools entered the 2026 National Merit Scholarship program by taking the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants.

The local Deerfield students named as semifinalists this year include:

Deerfield High School

• Cordelia G. Angel-Reece
• Emiko L. Chichester
• Ella R. Gil
• Katherine I. Hammack
• Madeline G. Katz
• Charlie J. Marks
• Lexie H. Segal

For comparison, four Deerfield students were named semifinalists last year.

RELATED: 4 Deerfield Students Named 2025 National Merit Semifinalists

NMSC, a not-for-profit organization based in Evanston, said it operates without government assistance. It was established in 1955 specifically to conduct this program Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by about 300 business organizations, higher education institutions, and individual donors that share NMSC’s goals of honoring the nation's scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.

According to NMSC, every finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $2,500 scholarships that will be awarded on a state-representational basis. The finalists will be announced in spring 2026.