Capital City Scholars Earn Elite National Recognition

Tallahassee is celebrating a major academic achievement as 19 students from local high schools have been named Semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program. These high school seniors are now poised to continue in the competition for nearly $26 million in National Merit Scholarships that will be awarded in the spring of 2026.

The National Merit Scholarship Program is an American academic scholarship competition managed by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), a privately funded not-for-profit organization established in 1955.

Entry into the National Merit Scholarship Program is highly selective, beginning with a mandatory standardized test. The competition screens over 1.3 million juniors from approximately 20,000 high schools who take the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). The Tallahassee Semifinalists qualified by taking the 2024 PSAT/NMSQT as juniors. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, consisting of more than 16,000 students, represents the highest-scoring entrants in each state. This group accounts for less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors. Each state is allocated a percentage of Semifinalists proportional to that state's share of the nation's graduating seniors.

Leon Schools Superintendent Rocky Hanna noted the immense pride in this achievement, recognizing the students' academic success and acknowledging "the teachers who prepared them for this moment".

Recognized Semifinalists

The 19 Semifinalists from Tallahassee high schools must now fulfill additional requirements to advance to the Finalist level.

Florida State University School

• Lillian Watters

• Vy Nguyen

James S. Rickards High School

• Donald English

• Himank Chhaya

• Nitya Konidala

Lawton Chiles High School

• Daniel Duan

• Minjun Park

• Sarah Zhao

• Sieryn Lee

• Sumyut Reddy

Leon High School

• Dylan K. Lawson

• Emmalin C. Starnes

• John W. Winsor

• Taylor E. Homan

Maclay School

• Arianna Chuku

• David Roberts

• Nishi Bhanderi

• Sophie Lombard

• Suhani Gawde

The Final Push for Scholarship Awards

To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award and advance to Finalist standing, Semifinalists must complete a detailed scholarship application. Approximately 95 percent of Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, resulting in over 15,000 Finalists nationwide.

Semifinalists must:

1. Submit a detailed scholarship application that includes information on extracurricular achievements, awards, and leadership positions.
2. Maintain an outstanding academic record throughout high school, including high school courses and grades.
3. Earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm their earlier qualifying test performance.
4. Receive an endorsement and recommendation from a high school official.
5. Write a self-descriptive essay.

All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from the pool of Finalists. About 8,000 Merit Scholarship awards are granted annually.

These fall into three categories:

1. National Merit $2500 Scholarships: Every Finalist competes for one of 2,500 of these scholarships, awarded on a state-representational basis to those judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success.

2. Corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards: About 830 of these awards are provided by approximately 150 business organizations for Finalists who meet specific criteria, such as being children of the sponsor's employees or residents of a particular geographic area.

3. College-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards: About 3,600 of these awards are financed by approximately 150 colleges and universities for Finalists who plan to attend the sponsor institution.

Scholarship recipients will be announced in nationwide news releases from April through July of 2026. Those selected earn the distinguished title of Merit Scholar.