Eight named National Merit Semifinalists; 16 Commended

The Semifinalists are Luke An, Prachi Chetlur, Sara Gillespie, Pritika Gupta, Zahra Hossain, Arth Italiya, Thomas Mallison, and Jeffery Zhang.

Since its founding in 1955, the National Merit Scholarship Program has recognized outstanding academic achievement and provided scholarship opportunities for high school students across the country. More than 1.3 million juniors entered the 2026 program by taking the PSAT/NMSQT last fall. From that group, approximately 16,000 students nationwide were named Semifinalists, representing the highest scorers in each state. The number of Semifinalists in each state is proportional to its share of graduating seniors.

Semifinalists now have the opportunity to continue in the competition for nearly 6,930 National Merit Scholarships valued at $26 million to be awarded next spring. To advance to Finalist standing, students must submit a detailed application highlighting academic performance, leadership, community involvement, employment, and honors. Historically, about 95 percent of Semifinalists become Finalists, and approximately half of those will be named National Merit Scholars.

In addition, 16 Upper St. Clair seniors earned Commended Student recognition: Sofia Alfredson Themudo, Mana Barimani, Anoushka Barve, Chloe Bird, Jacob Clougherty, Vaishnavi Dabas, Geneva Eisinger, Robert Elliot, Lylah Kateeb, Joseph Moore, Sidharth Nambiar, Kaia Petrick, Eleanor Simons, Daniel Slowey, Emiliano Sobarzo, and William Whitman.

Commended Students represent the top 50,000 highest-scoring students in the nation. This year, about 34,000 students across the country received this distinction, recognizing their exceptional academic promise.

Finalists will be announced in February 2026, followed by the naming of National Merit Scholars in the spring and summer. The program awards three types of scholarships:

• 2,500 National Merit Scholarships of $2,500 each
• Approximately 830 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarships
• About 3,600 college-sponsored Merit Scholarships

For more information regarding the National Merit Scholarship Program, visit: www.nationalmerit.org.