Bright Future: Mahwah Student Among National Merit Semifinalists

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — Today's teens have been tested in many ways, but there's only one test that can qualify them for a competitive National Merit Scholarship for all four years of college.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced today its list of semi-finalists for their annual awards, with the much shorter lists of finalists to be announced in spring 2024.

The process begins when students take their PSAT as a sophomore or junior in high school. Tens of thousands of students are chosen as Commended scholars.

During those students' senior year, the number is whittled to a list of semi-finalists. In a recent year, 16,000 semi-finalists were chosen.

Then, to continue competing, they must submit an essay, recommendations, and more.

In spring, some of the students receive a $2,500 scholarship for college, while others may win an amount from a specific company or a chosen college.

Mahwah And Bergen County Semi-Finalists

Not all towns have semi-finalists, but a handful of Bergen County towns made the list.

From Mahwah High School, the semi-finalist is:

Merrick T. Sharp

There were also several semi-finalists at countywide magnet schools.

Here is the list from Bergen County Academies in Hackensack:

Bovell, Nikhil
Bunal, Patrick D.
Calaman, Skyler
Chang, Claire
Jain, Yessica
Jhaveri, Shlok
Joshi, Rohan
Kalia, Disha
Kim, Joshua
Kim, Peter
Lamba, Riddhi
Lee, Luna
Lee, Reia
Lee, Sasha
Lekan, Angela
Lerman, Matthew
Li, Angela
Park, Chloe J.
Pitcock, Jeremy
Pospichalova, Anezka
Ren, Joy I.
Rodriguez, Christopher
Sallam, Yusuf
Santoshi, Aarush
Shah, Arham
Shi, Emma
Singh, Rishabh
Specht, Matthew D.
Tkach, Sofiya
Vadakken, Hannah
Wen, Zoey
Zhou, Maggie

Also, from Bergen County Technical High School, the semi-finalists are:

Cho, Kevin
Mathews, Anurag
Park, Jacqueline
Song, Matthew
Song, Natalie

NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was
established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by more than 300 business organizations and higher education institutions.