The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced on Wednesday, Sept. 13, its 2024 list of semifinalist high school students who will now compete for a share of about 7,140 scholarships worth almost $28 million. Winners will be announced nationally between April and July next year. This is the 69th annual competition.
High school juniors, 11th graders, in the United States entered the academic competition by taking the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. More than 1.3 million juniors, in about 21,000 high schools, entered the competition by taking the qualifying test.
For related news, see: These Orange County high schoolers are National Merit semifinalists for 2024
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 2024 if they are finalists and about half of those win a scholarship from three categories.
The categories of scholarships: National Merit $2500 Scholarships; corporate-sponsored scholarships; college-sponsored scholarships.
For related news, see: These Riverside County high schoolers are 2024 National Merit semifinalists
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 2024 from April to July.
The 2024 scholarship winners join the nearly 375,000 past winners who have earned the title of Merit Scholar.
Here is the list of semifinalists in the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program in Los Angeles County by school location and the school name:
Agoura Hills
Agoura Hills HS
- Calvin O. Ring
Alhambra
Alhambra HS
- Raymond S. Wang
Mark Keppel HS
- Austin Y. Chu
- Kayla R. Kamei
- Eva M. Wong
For related news, see: These San Bernardino County high schoolers are 2024 National Merit semifinalists
Arcadia
Arcadia HS
- Cheng, Isaac
- Hongji Dai
- Casey R. Kim
- Kaitlyn A. Kwan
- Caroline J. Li
- Jeffery Oo
- Steven H. Shi
- Philip Tan
- William Wong
- Felicia Ye
- Katelyn A. Yu
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills HS
- Lucas S. Eskildsen-Lee
Burbank
Burbank HS
- Sanjay Dhamodharan
Burroughs HS
- Samuel R. Svonkin
Calabasas
Calabasas HS
- Zachary A. Davis
- Zachary C. Piesner
Viewpoint School
- Daniyar H. Ali
- Avrick H. Altmann
- Alivia K. Alva
- Julianna H. Hughes
- Kaylyn S. Robertson
- William Yao
Carson
California Academy of Mathematics and Science
- Samantha Chang
- Kyle Huang
- Hiroaki Shiraishi
- Emma Zhong
Castaic
Castaic HS
- Colton T. Kim
Cerritos
Gretchen Whitney HS
- Shriya Bidani
- Cao, Steven Cao
- Michael A. Fedorov
- Perry Han
- Roseline Kim
- Megan S. Lee
- Jeffrey Liao
- Caleb J. Pong
- Darshan K. Powers
- Vaishnavi Sam
- Nairrit Sengupta
- Sid M. Shah
- Ellie Ta
- Titus L. Taing
- Shawn Wang
- Evelyn L. Yao
- Tad Yoon
- Ruizhi Zhang
Chatsworth
Chatsworth HS
- Arnav A. Dangre
Sierra Canyon School
- Katie T. Anderson
- Alexander Bai
- Dylan R. Ochoa
Claremont
Claremont HS
- Jocelyn C. Chang
Vivian Webb School
- Aiperi R. Bush
- Eleanor H. Hong
- Emily Y. Li
- Zongying Li
- Mirabel E. Raphael
- Jiaqi Wang
Webb School of California
- Connor L. Keeney
- Xiaojun Pan
- Hanming Zeng
- Zhehao Zhang
Culver City
Culver City HS
- Penn Carbo
- Julia R. Marcus
Diamond Bar
Diamond Bar HS
- Jennifer M. Cheng
- Himansi Gupta
- Michael Hu
- Angel D. Huang
- Jeremiah W. Jung
- Erdaifu Luo
- Owen Ma
- Felix Peng
- Emily Ren
- Dave D. Zheng
- Natalie Zhou
- Michelle Zou
El Segundo
Da Vinci Science HS
- Josiah Fu
El Segundo HS
- Daniel T. Tritasavit
Vistamar School
- Justin R. Huebner
- Jake A. Yun
Glendale
Glendale HS
- Karo Boyajyan
Glendora
Glendora HS
- Edward Huang
- Daniel Wang
Granada Hills
Granada Hills Charter HS
- Zainab H. Alatya
- Jeremy Alexander
- Patrick A. Badere
- Michael L. Dalva
- Aayushi Garg
- Matthew R. Krzewinski
- Claudia H.Shin
- Douglas W. Verneer
Hacienda Heights
Glen A Wilson HS
- Halo K. Kwok
Hermosa Beach
Homeschool
- Grace F. Ivancich
La Cañada Flintridge
Flintridge Preparatory School
- Aidan Chao
- Maylin Chen
- Chloe I. Chong
- Marissa A. Cotte
- Austin Hong
- Kayla Lee
- Lucy Liu
- Warren Nam
- Daniel Zhao
Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy
- Jianing Xu
La Cañada HS
- Chelsea M. Brack
- Blake S. Chang
- Rachel Choi
- Neal S. Frankenberg
- Cameron M. Hong
- Dylan F. Jeffries
- Joonha Lee
- Matthew Y. Park
- Marius L. Rutkowski
- Andrew C. Smersfel
- Thomas A. Sorensen
- Emmi Sugino
- Sonal K. Sukhatme
La Crescenta
Clark Magnet HS
- Ibrahim Ahmed
Crescenta Valley HS
- Haik Isaiants
- David Kahdian
- Nathan Lee
- Debayon Roy
Long Beach
Long Beach Polytechnic HS
- Matthew T. Long
Los Angeles
The Archer School for Girls
- Camila Blank
Brentwood School
- Toby E. Kinberg
- Beckett T. O’Brien
- William Varnum
- Ryan Wirtschafter
Geffen Academy at UCLA
- Hugo C. Chiasson
- Christopher C. Jun
- Natalie F. Kruglyak
- James Lee-South
- Jeremy A. Steiglitz
Girls Academic Leadership Academy
- Maya L. Henry
Larchmont Charter HS
- Jayden Choi
- Rayhan Y. Haque
- Ethan H. Kim
Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies
- Leilani E. Krantz
- Kylie M. Monterosso
- Taizo Nakayama
Loyola HS
- Daniel H. Bang
- Nimish Baweja
- Aaron M. Jimenez
Marlborough School
- Violet Affleck
- Hope Lee
- Wyeth Renwick
Milken Community School
- Benjamin B. Signer
New West Charter School
- Owen H. Grossman
UCLA Community School
- Paolo Roque B. Villa
Woodrow Wilson HS
- Anyi Tan
Windward School
- Jemma M. Beardmore
- Rex V. Gavsie
- Zachary J. Gottlieb
- Matthew R. Sani
- Jude R. St. John
Yula Boys HS
- Benjamin M. Karben
Malibu
Malibu HS
- Athena M. Rem
Manhattan Beach
Mira Costa HS
- Kina M. Desai
- Veronica A. Fish
- Charles A. Hiatt
- William M. Kiely
- Naomi S. Kim
- Adam W. Manasfi
- Mia J. Roman-Wilson
Newhall
William S. Hart HS
- Luke A. Kuhlman
North Hollywood
North Hollywood HS
- Boheng Cao
- Jack R. Dobbs
- Rishabh Garg
- Oscar J. Kohler
- Stanley Z. Li
- Alexander W. Werth
Science Academy Stem Magnet
- Andrew J. Palchevskiy
- Dylan H. Rainman
Pacific Palisades
Palisades Charter HS
- Kai S. Harting
- Ellery M. Preven
- Carter R. Yean
- Olivia T. Zaidel
- Dominic X. Zuniga
Palos Verdes Estates
Palos Verdes HS
- Cayden Cooper
- Naomi Gan
- Clarence Y. Lin
- Mark Y. Lin
- Christine Xie
Palos Verdes Peninsula
Chadwick School
- Raina J. Jo
Pasadena
Maranatha HS
- Hanzhi Liu
Marshall Fundamental HS
- Ian Timberg
Pasadena HS
- Teresa C. Carbone
- Elias M. Gee
Polytechnic HS
- Sharon Chou
- Luke Haenisch
- Jeffrey Y. Liu
- Brendan Poon
- Yagura, Kaylin Yagura
Westridge School
- Cho, Lauren H. Cho
- Anna E. Kleindorfer
- Rachel A. Kong
- Sofie V. Wong
Redondo Beach
Redondo Union HS
- Madeline J. Langa
- Daniel Rosado
- Amy Saffer
- Riley S. Williams
Rolling Hills Estates
Palos Verdes Peninsula HS
- Oliver H. Ahern
- Nerissa A. Chin
- Andy J. Gu
- Devin Y. Lai
- Kevin Y. Lai
- Nathan J. Leung
- Jonathan L. Lin
- Zhixin Liu
- Paul T. Martin
- Austin B. Pong
- Arthur V. Qin
- Leia M. Spagnola
- Brian Q. Wang
- Hooman Zabihi
Rowland Heights
John A. Rowland HS
- Lee, Benjamin Lee
- Allen J. Li
- Aidan Pan
San Marino
San Marino HS
- Melody Chen
- Kathy Jia
- Ruoxin Jia
- Ching Lam Ma
- Ingrid Wu
- Ryder Yoshitake
Santa Clarita
Academy of the Canyons
- Jain, Aditya
- Noah S. Kim
- Vela K. Reynolds
Santa Monica
Crossroads School
- Gabriel W. Evers
- Ashley E. Stutsman
- Beckett T. Yi
Santa Monica HS
- Milo C. Bernini
- Justin J. Xu
Sherman Oaks
The Buckley School
- Maxim Sarkar
South Pasadena
South Pasadena HS
- Ada P. Bild
- Aidan K. Jackson
- Geeyou Lee
- Truman T. Lindenthaler
- Alexander Y. Ninomiya
- Linus R. Sun
- Katherine W. Tam
Studio City
Bridges Academy
- Leo Apps
- Adam R. Sohigian
Harvard-Westlake School
- Kriste J. An
- Emily P. Ba
- Morgan J. Beckerman
- Arin Budhiraja
- Spencer D. Casamassima
- David Chen
- Katie Chen
- Ryan Z. Cheng
- Luke C. Collins
- Leo Z. Craig
- Kaito M. De Anda
- Aidan H. Deshong
- Cecelia K. Do
- Haruka S. Endo
- Derek L. Esrailian
- Weston B. Fuchs
- Oren E. Hartstein
- Christopher Headley
- Phoebe M. Hsu
- Owen R. Huang
- Fiona S. Kim
- Ian B. Kim
- Do Hyeong Lee
- Maxwell Y. Lee
- Sabrina G. Liu
- Rustom J. Malhotra
- Jackson A. Mayer
- Chloe S. Park
- Grady C. Ramberg
- Benjamin W. Ren
- Christopher S. Robertson
- Sophia Z. Vourakis
- Christopher R. Weng
- Andrew Wesel
Tarzana
Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies
- Sunny Y. Cai
Temple City
Temple City HS
- Jasmine Liu
- Keilana H. Pang
- Ellen Y. Tang
- Borui Yin
Torrance
South HS
- Sydney J. Cho
- Katherine L. Gloyer
Torrance HS
- Kevin S. Sohn
West HS
- Minah Shin
Valencia
West Ranch HS
- Anish Banala
- Brennan T. Leem
- George Ma
Van Nuys
Van Nuys HS
- Brian Sang
Venice
Venice HS
- Krishan A. Gupta-Garcia
Walnut
Walnut HS
- Sham, Dylan W. Sham
- Phillip Tang
- Aron Wu
Westlake Village
Oaks Christian HS
- Hayden N. Andersson
- Soren Jensen
Westlake HS
- Benjamin Francis
- Jai Garg
- Max Lim
- Ariana Liu
- Arwen Louie
- Kiersten A. Roth
- Alan Shi
- Nicholas Tjoa
- Miriam Tong
- Hunter Wang
- Emily J. Wu
Woodland Hills
William Howard Taft HS
- Saketh R. Vennela
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, tinyurl.com/mrx4t933
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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