5 Loyola Students, 36 From NTHS Named National Merit Semifinalists

WILMETTE, IL — Forty-three high school seniors studying in the New Trier Township area were named semifinalists for 2024 National Merit Scholarships.

They include five from Loyola Academy in Wilmette, one from North Shore Country Day School in Winnetka, a homeschooled Northfield resident and three dozen members of the class of 2024 at New Trier Township High School — marking an increase over last year's crop of semifinalists from the local public school, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

The 43 local scholars were among the more than 16,000 high school students who qualified from across the country based on the results of Preliminary SAT tests that they took last year, with the number of semifinalist slots in a state determined by its share of the nation's sum of graduating seniors.

This year's semifinalists from area high schools are:

Loyola Academy

• Emmett F. Boyd
• Leah M. Harker
• Daniel B. McGuire
• Elizabeth B. O'Hara
• Townes X. Robertson

New Trier High School

• Alison K. Beanblossom
• Tal M. Belkind
• Jacqueline R. Berman
• Emily J. Boyd
• Tolga K. Bozkurt
• William Choi
• Maya Echambadi
• Jasmine Fang
• Hayden M. Fountain
• Alivia A. Gao
• Ashley Geohas
• Constance H. Gillum
• Samuel Kaiser
• Jonah V. Kim
• Sophia A. Korobov
• Charles J. Ktsanes
• Nalin V. Kundu
• Magnus J. Lee
• Megan K. Lu
• Daniel C. Matten
• Jacob A. Matten
• Ella L. McCurdy
• Andrew E. Moore
• Catherine H. Moore
• Michael J. Moran
• Lauren Moutvic
• Niyati Naveen
• Raina M. Patel
• Sarah F. Popoff
• Colleen S. Schindler
• Rohan M. Sharma
• Caleb Sim
• Pranshu Venkatesh Rao
• Victoria I. Wenzke
• Andrew Y. Xia
• Jasper S. Zettelmeyer

North Shore Country Day School

• Jameson T. Tao

Northfield (Homeschool)

• Robert Szwarc

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation is an Evanston-based not-for-profit that distributes three types of scholarships every spring, totaling nearly $28 million for more than 7,100 students,

About 840 students will receive corporate-sponsored awards, which are mostly reserved for the children of people who work for one of about 160 different businesses.

Another 2,500 students will receive $2,500 cash each, to be evenly distributed among different states.

And the largest group of winners is made of up finalists picked to receive 3,800 scholarships of between $500 and $2,000 a year for up to four year of undergraduate study. About 160 different colleges and universities finance the awards.

In order for semifinalists to qualify as a finalist and become eligible for scholarships, they must submit a detailed application, including an essay and recommendation from a high school official.

Last year, 22 students from local high schools — 19 from NTHS, two from Loyola and one from North Shore Country Day — were named semifinalists.