4 Hightstown Students Named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists

EAST WINDSOR, NJ – Four students from Hightstown were named semifinalists in the 71st annual National Merit Scholarship Program. More than 16,000 students from across the country made the list.

The high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 6,930 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million that will be offered next spring, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation said.

Here are the students who made the list:

HIGHTSTOWN HIGH SCHOOL

• Viraj N. Kope

PEDDIE SCHOOL

• Saanvi Gudapati
• Aarav Kumar
• Tevin Zhou

To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition.

About 95 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and around half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship.

Over 1.3 million high school juniors from 20,000 schools entered the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2024 PSAT/NMSQT. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, with numbers proportional to each state's graduating class size.

To advance from Semifinalist to Finalist status, students must submit detailed applications including academic records, activities, leadership roles, and essays, plus earn confirming SAT or ACT scores. Over 15,000 of the 16,000+ Semifinalists are expected to become Finalists, with notifications in February.

Three scholarship types will be awarded in spring 2026 - 2,500 National Merit $2,500 Scholarships (state-representational basis); 830 corporate-sponsored awards from 150 companies (employee children/community residents) and 3,600 college-sponsored awards from 150 participating universities

Winners will be announced from April to July 2026.

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