Alexandria Seniors Named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists For 2026

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Students at Alexandria area schools were named semifinalists in the next round of National Merit Scholarships in 2026.

The National Merit Scholarship program recognizes academically successful high school students, with winners representing less than 1 percent of the country's high school seniors. In the 71st annual program, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation has named more than 16,000 finalists.

Over 1.3 million students in 20,000 U.S. high schools were entered into the National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2024 PSAT as juniors. The semifinalists were the highest-scoring students in each state and represent less than 1 percent of high school seniors. The number chosen from each state is proportional to its share of graduating seniors in the U.S.

About 95 percent of semifinalists are expected to be named finalists, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. To be considered for finalist status, semifinalists and a high school official must complete a scholarship application with details on the academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. The semifinalists must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn an SAT or ACT score reinforcing their qualifying PSAT score.

Scholarship winners will be chosen from the approximately 15,000 finalists. There will be 2,500 National Merit $2500 Scholarships awarded by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation on a state-representational basis. About 150 corporations and business organizations will provide 830 corporate-sponsored scholarships to students whose parents work at sponsoring businesses or who live in the communities where offices are located. About 150 colleges and universities will provide 3,600 college-sponsored awards to students attending their institutions.

In all, 6,930 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million will be awarded in 2026. Scholarship announcements will be made from April to July 2026.

"Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference," the National Merit Scholarship Corporation says.

Semifinalists are grouped by the town or city in which they attend school. The list includes City of Alexandria schools and schools with Alexandria addresses in Fairfax County. Many of the semifinalists coming from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.

The students at Alexandria area schools named as semifinalists are:

• Malyha Y. Bashar, Thomas Edison High School
• Zoe Stanfield, Thomas Edison High School
• Alexander Costescu, homeschool/online school
• Lydia Dummermuth, Immanuel Christian School
• Ethan Miller, Bishop Ireton High School
• Daniel Santillan, Bishop Ireton High School
• Timothy Stoll, Bishop Ireton High School
• Janet G. Cooper, St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School
• Ariya Harrington, St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School
• Reese W. Lai, St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School
• Alison V. Rouse, St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School
• Shaan S. Nagda, West Potomac High School
• Anusha Agarwal, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Jacqueline E. Ake, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Grace G. Amartuvshin, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Rishi Anangi, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Navya Arora, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Romanchit A. Arora, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Sugirthan Nagappan Arun, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Grace T. Bai, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Ananya Bhatt, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Hrishi Bhooma, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Sai Pratik Buddhana, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Evan J. Cafaro, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Jessica Chen, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Joshua N. Cheng, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Ariana S. Chidambar, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Moira E. Clark, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Rachel C. Du, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Nikolas M. Fitzpatrick, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Joseph George, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Ria Goel, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Finley S. Gordon, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Haasini Govindu, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Breanne G. Graham, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Eric Guo, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Sophia Guo, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Harry H. Han, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Tayne Han, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Ibrahim A. Harchich, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Kaleb R. Hickling, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Rohan S. Honganoor, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Holly Huang, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Lulu H. Huang, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Kyungsup A. Hwang, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Theodore M. Hwang, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Adarsh S. Iruvanti, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Shaanvhi J. Jayaram, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Soren L. Johnson, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Kashi A. Kamat, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Emily S. Kang, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Aarushi G. Kanigicherla, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Matthew A. Kao, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Nathaniel K. Kerr, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Justin J. Kim, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Karis S. Kim, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Petr A. Kisselev, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Ethan S. Ko, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Anant Krishna, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Rushil Kukreja, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Divya S. Kulkarni, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Valerie M. Lai, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Ethan J. Lee, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Hanseon Lee, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Brendan W. Li, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Caroline Li, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Ethan C. Li, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Nathan Liu, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Nikita Lugovoy, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Justin Y. Ma, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Bowen L. MacGillivray, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Esha S. Madamalla, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Arnav Majeti, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Ansh Malhotra, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Zella G. Mantler, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Payton E. Morris, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Nived Nandakumar, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Rishikesh Narayana, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Kavin Narayanan, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Noam Nikolich, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Elijah J. O'Donoghue, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Ethan I. O'Hara, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Viola R. Pande, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Anna J. Park, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Joey Park, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Aashritha Penumudi, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Quynh-Chi V. Phan, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Juliet C. Phillips, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Bailey K. Piper, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Aditya R. Pujari, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Neil N. Ramarapu, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Matthew E. Ryan, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Hannah Ryu, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Karanveer S. Sadiora, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Ahana G. Sekhar, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Grace E. Shaffer, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Siwen Shen, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Armaan Sheoran, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Julia M. Shi, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Julia E. Showers, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Emilia N. Sloan, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Abeni A. Smith, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Micah G. Sorli, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Grace M. Sprano, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Sophia M. Stidman, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Henry J. Stievater, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Joseph R. Sultan, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Alaina M. Szeto, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Abhiraj Tiwari, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Sarah G. Trainer, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Rachel C. Truong, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Luv M. Udeshi, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Tanush C. Vuppala, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Oliver Wang, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Ruilin Wang, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Aidan H. Wright, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Olivia Z. Wu, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Eric H. Xie, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Jayden W. Yang, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Justin Yu, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Ayla W. Zhang, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Ella M. Zhang, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Feiran Zhang, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Jennifer J. Zhang, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Max B. Zhao, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology