20 Evanston High School Seniors Among National Merit Semifinalists, Including 16 From ETHS

EVANSTON, IL — Twenty students from high schools in Evanston advanced to the semifinalist round of the National Merit scholarship program, more than three times as many as made the cut last year.

The local high-scoring seniors announced Wednesday are among the 16,000 students nationwide to be named semifinalists based on the results of the Preliminary SAT tests they took during their junior years.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation will award nearly $26 million in scholarship money to 6,870 finalists in the spring and summer of 2025.

This year's semifinalists include 16 students from Evanston Township High School and four from local private schools.

Last year, there were no private school students and just a half-dozen from ETHS in the semifinalist round.

Here are this year's semifinalists attending Evanston schools, in alphabetical order:

• Hershel Abraham, ETHS
• Una Breen, ETHS
• Eli Coustan, ETHS
• Cameron Eaton-Strong, ETHS
• Daniel Green, ETHS
• Marko Maruszewski, Roycemore School
• Maxwell Matsis, ETHS
• Daniel O'Connor, ETHS
• Isaac Peng, ETHS
• Lillian Pollack, Beacon Academy
• Aidan Scheidt, Beacon Academy
• Katherine Schober, ETHS
• Leah Shaman, ETHS
• Leo Smith, Beacon Academy
• Harrison Stracks, ETHS
• Patrick Tu, ETHS
• Philippa Walker, ETHS
• Andrew Watson, ETHS
• William Zalmezak, ETHS
• Kathryn Zehr, ETHS

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation is an Evanston-based not-for-profit that distributes three types of scholarships every year.

It awards corporate-sponsored scholarships, mostly reserved for the children of people who work for a participating businesses, to about 770 students. Every year, it also awards $2,500 cash to 2,500 students out of its own funds.

Read more: 2 ETHS Students Awarded Cash Scholarships From National Merit

But the largest group of scholarship winners is made up of those awarded college-sponsored scholarships.

About 3,800 students receive anywhere from $500 and $2,000 a year for up to four year of undergraduate study at one of about 150 participating colleges and universities.

To qualify as a finalist and win one of the scholarships, National Merit semifinalists must submit a detailed application, including an essay and recommendation from a high school official.

Each state is allocated a number of semifinalists proportional to its overall population.

This year's crop of nearly 250 Illinois students includes the highest number of ETHS students in a decade, reversing a three year decline.

Prior to last year's low of six semifinalists from the class of 2024, nine members of ETHS's class of 2023 and 15 members of its class of 2022 were named semifinalists.