12 West Chester Area HS Students Named National Merit Semifinalists

WEST CHESTER, PA — Twelve West Chester area high school students have been named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists, the organization that conducts the highly selective awards announced this week.

The West Chester area students among some 16,000 semifinalists nationwide are listed below:

B. REED HENDERSON H. S.
Ayan Chatterjee
Sidharth M. Sumesh

PENNSYLVANIA LEADERSHIP CHARTER SCHOOL
Shaun Fernando
Brady Lewis
Juliette Tenebruso

BAYARD RUSTIN H. S.
Tanay Dash

WEST CHESTER EAST H. S.
John Armbruster
Arya Gohel
Dinith Halambage
Alexander Issac
Jaydon Sam

WESTTOWN SCHOOL
Anqi Wang

To be named a semifinalist is a significant achievement, as more than 1.3 million high school juniors who took the pre-SAT were enrolled in the competition.

From the semifinal field of 16,000, just 6,390 students will win the final scholarships. Around $26 million in scholarships in total will be awarded, funded both by universities and corporations.

To become a finalist, winner are selected based on "accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies," the corporation says. Academically, this is chiefly judged by standardized test scores on PSAT, as well as grades in school classes. Outside of the classroom, judges look at an essay written by the finalist, a letter of recommendation by a high school official, and various contributions to the school and community.

Winners will be announced in the spring.

The 2025-26 round of scholarshipsmarks the 71st year of the contest.