Decorative mortarboard during commencement ceremonies at California State University, Northridge, on the CSUN campus, Friday, May 20, 2022. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced on Wednesday, Sept. 14, its 2023 list of semifinalist high school students who will now compete for a share of about 7,250 scholarships worth almost $28 million. Winners will be announced nationally between April and July next year. This is the 68th annual competition.
High school juniors, 11th graders, in the United States entered the academic competition by taking the 2021 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.
The highest-scoring students in each state represent the pool of semifinalists who, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, represent less than 1% of United States high school seniors.
The next step for a semifinalist to become a finalist is to complete the required application that includes their SAT or ACT scores, an essay and a letter of recommendation by a high school official.
Finalists are then chosen on the basis of academic record, their participation in community and school activities, how they have demonstrated leadership ability, employment, awards and honors received.
From a group of about 16,000 semifinalists, an expected 15,000 advance to finalists. Students are notified in February 2023 if they are finalists and about half of those win a scholarship.
There are three categories of scholarships: National Merit $2500 Scholarships; corporate-sponsored scholarships; college-sponsored scholarships.
The National Merit Scholarship winners, chosen on the basis of accomplishments, skills and potential for college success, are selected from the February finalists group. Winners are notified, on a rolling basis, in 2023 from April to July.
Here is the list of semifinalists in the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program in Los Angeles County by school location and the school name:
Agoura Hills
Agoura Hills HS
Aston H. Du
Sriya J. Kalyan
Jordan P/ Shin
Alhambra
Mark Keppel HS
Konnor H. Luong
Arcadia
Arcadia HS
Ian Chan
Kevin Y. Hu
Cassie Kao
Weber C. Lin
Tin P. Nguyen
Carolyn Sun
Ashley K. Te
Nathan Vuong
Avari Wang
Phoebe Wang
Stephanie H. Wang
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills HS
Alexandra R. Bakshian
Ariel J. Goldberg
Suhh Yeon Kim
Miles J. Kottler
Burbank
Burbank HS
Kacey M. Fifield
Lana E. Kang
Lorenzo R. Lopez
Yogini N. Vazirani
Burroughs HS
Lillian Raesler
Nayan Ramakrishnan
Margaret K. Roberts
Calabasas
Calabasas HS
Niccolo G. Terango
Qualia The School for Deeper Learning
Terrin Eugene Busby Thompson
Viewpoint School
Zach R. Gor
Mansi Jain
JiaLian Mackey
Alec J. Williams
Carson
California Academy of Mathematics and Science
Jaden Balajadia
Dominick Cardella
Tiffany Chen
Manan Tuteja
Jenna Yang
Cerritos
Cerritos HS
Julianne Hoffman
Gahr HS
Hannah J. Yoon
Gretchen Whitney HS
Colin J. Choi
Jimin Choi
Trenton T. Kim
Aaron S. Park
Max W. Peng
Claremont
Vivian Webb School
Nancy Y. Lin
Yuming Wan
Webb School of California
Taejun Ahn
Jeffrey S. Baek
Anjie Jian
Austin J. Ra
Richard H. Wu
Culver City
Culver City HS
Ruo Han Wang
Diamond Bar
Diamond Bar HS
Ryan K. Chung
Jeffrey Gong
Marcus Hsieh
Andrew Huang
Edward Kim
Jason Kim
Jenna D. Kim
William Li
Chloe J. Lim
Ryan H. Shin
Angie Sun
Angelina Young
Max Zhu
Eagle Rock
Eagle Rock HS
Cooper H. Darling
Glendora
Glendora HS
Xinyu Liu
Granada Hills
Granada Hills Charter HS
Aniket Mukherjee
Hacienda Heights
Glen A Wilson HS
Elizabeth S. Leung
La Cañada Flintridge
Flintridge Preparatory School
Charlotte M. Bax
Meena Durairaj
Youkai Ji
Audrey S. Jung
Arul Kolla
Jacob D. Lee
Alexander J. Oh
Dylan T. Tanouye
Evan L. Yoon
Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy
Kana J. Park
La Cañada HS
Hailey T. Chee
Vivien Chen
Anastasija M. Easley
Elyse H. Hwang
Adam J. Kakuk
Jessica N. Kim
Mia J. Kronson
Jessica Li
Jeshurun M. Liou
Siraaj S. Sandhu
Xiaohe Tang
Riley J. Thornburgh
William D. Wade
La Crescenta
Crescenta Valley HS
Angeline Choi
Long Beach
Long Beach Polytechnic HS
Skyler Hirota
Los Angeles
Brentwood School
Stephen H. Agar-Johnson
Sam Drake
Carter Iino
Rahul Yates
Downtown Magnet HS
Noah M. Han
Ashley Y. Shin
Geffen Academy at UCLA
August I. Deer
Aiden S. Di Carlo
Jereth Z. Liu
Taye J. Reiss
Kayla G. Sinnock
Claire F. Soohoo
Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies
Sofia Behzadi
Edward Crockett
Lucas Jia
Yvonne Kendall
Loyola HS
Dominic Barrios
Bowen J. Kim
Michael S. McElhenney
Marlborough School
Rachael Kim
Jocelyn E. Shek
John Marshall HS
Sasha M. Rotko
Milken Community School
Ophir G. Berrin
Joshua M. Roussak
New Covenant Academy
Dale Y. Lee
New West Charter High School
Rachel S. Lee
Notre Dame Academy
Jasmine Harrison
Pilgrim School
Jasper J. Andrews
Colin H. Kim
Windward School
Luke M. Gialanella
Henry T. Nieves
Yeshiva Gedolah of Los Angeles
Eliyahu Eghbali
Homeschool
Natalie Deering
Malibu
Malibu HS
Dylan E. Rem
Manhattan Beach
Mira Costa HS
Benjamin K. Blum
Andrew K. Cherry
Karyn B. Fu
Kyle Y. Fukumoto
Tucker Gauss
Ethan H. Harrison
Alexander C.Holcomb
Heather E. Jensen
Cindy X. Lin
Dashiell H. Rumble
Kiran P. Shah
Jacob M. Tan
Montrose
St. Monica Academy
Justin A. Decker
Newhall
William S. Hart HS
Timothy Phan
North Hollywood
Campbell Hall
Arjun A. Danna
North Hollywood HS
Hannah Cho
Emily M. Dietz
Julian E. Dohi
Alexander K. Franks
Jonathan M. Gasser-Brennan
Evan J. Higgins
Joanne Hong
Deanna S. Lee
Charles O. Luke
Katherine M. Shin
Nathaniel S. Shin
Adeline Sun
Richard Zhu
Oakwood School
Leo L. Frankel
Pacific Palisades
Palisades Charter HS
Anirudh Chatterjee
Dohyun A. Ju
Edward H. Kim
Robert H. Rosen
Tobias T. Scaduto
Levy C. Shaked
Sierra M. Sugarman
Sophie Y. Zhu
Palos Verdes Estates
Palos Verdes HS
Vivian M. Chan
Jenna N. Chow
Cynthia Y. Ho
Palos Verdes Peninsula
Chadwick School
Syona R. Goel
Pasadena
La Salle HS
Tomas A. Posada-Awad
Polytechnic HS
Benjamin D. Fernandez
Jamie Haenisch
Julian S. Harrison
Kai F. Herman
Elizabeth Hong
Nathaniel N. Marko
Dario G. Soatto
Westridge School
Katelyn A. Shirreffs
Redondo Beach
Redondo Union HS
Theodore Danial
Isabel Gross
Jack Hagemeister
Elise E. Haulund
Ella M. Kang
Isabella Langa
Esther Sun
Reseda
Cleveland HS
Jacob S. Pike
Rolling Hills
Palos Verdes Distance Learning Academy
Jacqueline S. Lane
Rolling Hills Estates
Palos Verdes Peninsula HS
Charlotte Y. Chiang
Sakurako F. Cho
Jillian M. Farley
Kyle Jiang
Rowland Heights
John A. Rowland HS
Selina Cheng
Juliet D. Kim
Madeleine R. Tsoi
Southlands Christian HS
Jeremy Chun
San Gabriel
Gabrielino HS
Kaylee Chan
Jonathan Liang
Violet Wang
San Marino
San Marino HS
Neil Chen
Michael Egan
Zhe Shan Lian
Elsa Panning
Lillian Panning
Thailor Christian Villaluna
Arwen Gwen Wen
Santa Clarita
Academy of the Canyon
Joan Isabelle C. Go
Santa Monica
Crossroads School
Daniel R. James
Kate Jang
Zev Weinstein
Santa Monica HS
Danny S. Chmaytelli
Lincoln G. Jarvis
Kian A. Naini
Sherman Oaks
The Buckley School
Madison Kesler
Katherine Silverman
Notre Dame HS
Autumn S. Han
South Pasadena
South Pasadena HS
Aria A. Argus
Ryan F. Arlett
Serin C. Hwang
Anthony Kim
Jacqueline S. Mancera
Zackary Quezada
Xiyu Wang
Isabelle C. Whetsel
Talia M. Yoo
Liana Zangwill
Studio City
Harvard-Westlake School
Jack T. Austen
Alexandra M. Ba
Nathaniel K. Berg
Henry A. Bryan
Justin R. Bu
Cheery Chen
Iris Chen
Olivia Chung
Lucas Cohen-d’Arbeloff
Konnie Duan
Aariz I. Furniturewala
Donya Ghassemieh
Daniella Cayla Goldrich
Alexander J. Hahn
Anika S. Iye
Vivien Y. Kimura
Steven D. Ko
Sang Hyun Lee
Ceerous J. LeSage
Elliot Joseph Lichtman
Jack L. Moreland
Noah T. Nakayama
Venice A. Offner
Victoria R. Peng
Kameron G. Rabizadeh
Sophia M. Rascoff
Asher L. Rossen
William R. Sherwood
Kensuke Shimojo
Zoe K. Shin
Carter M. Staggs
Harrison M. Tarses
Ethan Wang
Eli N. Weinbach
Skylar Whitley
Jake M. Wiczyk
Karen K. Wu
Audrey T. Yang
Eric M. Yoon
Emmy Y. Zhang
Temple City
Temple City HS
Keerthana Girish
Stephen A. Ma
Torrance
Bishop Montgomery HS
Alexis R. Wetzel
South HS
Kathryn A. Soares
West HS
Sohan K. Devalapurkar
Valencia
West Ranch HS
Alyssa Y. Chang
Andrew S. Kim
Jaeeun Park
Ella M. Shin
Clarissa Y. Zuo
Van Nuys
Grace Christian Academy
Reva Bhavin Patel
Van Nuys HS
Hannah Chung
Rachel S. Sang
Venice
Venice HS
Jessica L. Pan
Lidia S. Prokopovych-Shchepet
Walnut
Walnut HS
Samuel Chou
Hudson Kaleb K. Dy
Shani Y. Su
Chelsea Yeh
Jadon J. Zhu
Woodland Hills
El Camino Real Charter HS
Autumn T. Blackford
Lila R. Goldenberg
William Howard Taft HS
Jaume T. Folz
High school students interested in applying in future years need to talk to their school counselor to make arrangements to take the PSAT/NMSQT test. Registration is through the high school and not by the students. For information on the competition, bit.ly/3hzLR8E
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation was established in 1955 and is an independent, not-for-profit group that does not operate with government assistance.
The goals of the organization are to reward academically-dedicated students, encourage academic excellence at all levels of education, promote a deeper respect for learning in general and to encourage individuals and organizations to sponsor scholarships. nationalmerit.org
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