2026 National Merit Semifinalists from Santa Clara, Sunnyvale

More than two dozen students from Santa Clara and Sunnyvale have been named semifinalists in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program. The announcement was made on Sept. 10 by the National Merit Scholarship Program, marking the 71st year the company has recognized students for their outstanding test scores on the PSAT or NMSQT.

Over 1.3 million juniors in approximately 20,000 high schools nationwide took the Preliminary SAT (PSAT) or National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT), which served as the initial screening for program entrants. The pool of semifinalists represents less than 1% of that pool.

Students named as a semifinalist can now apply to become a National Merit Scholarship Finalist, where they will be eligible for nearly 7,000 college scholarships, corporate sponsorships and more worth nearly $26 million.

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About 95% of the semifinalists are expected to advance to the finalist standing and approximately half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship.

To become a finalist, students are judged on their academic record, participation in school and community activities, leadership abilities, employment, honors and awards. They must also have letters of recommendation, write an essay and have SAT or ACT scores that confirm their earlier test scores.

The following students from Santa Clara High School, Wilcox High School, Fremont High School and The King’s Academy were recognized as National Merit semifinalists.

Santa Clara High School