The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced on Wednesday, Sept. 9, its 2027 list of semifinalist high school students who will now compete for a share of about 6,700 scholarships worth almost $24 million.

Winners will be announced nationally between April and July next year. This is the 72nd annual competition.

High school juniors — 11th graders — entered the 2027 academic competition by taking the 2025 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. More than 1.2 million juniors, in about 20,000 high schools, entered the competition by taking the 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 the group of about 16,000 Semifinalists, more than 15,000 are expected to advance to the finalist level.

Students will be notified in February 2027 if they are Finalists. All National Merit Scholarship winners are selected from this group of finalists, and about half of those are expected to win a scholarship from three categories.

National Merit $2500 Scholarships: Every finalist competes for one of 2,500 scholarships that are awarded on a state-representational basis.

Corporate-sponsored scholarships: In 2027, about 700 corporate-sponsored awards will be given out by about 120 corporations and business organizations for finalists who meet their specified criteria (such as children of the grantor’s employees or residents of communities where sponsor plants or offices are located).

College-sponsored scholarships: About 140 colleges and universities finance about 3,500 awards for finalists who will attend the sponsor’s institution.

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 2027 from April to July.

The 2027 scholarship winners join the nearly 395,000 past winners who have earned the title of Merit Scholar.

Here is the list of semifinalists in the 2027 National Merit Scholarship Program in Los Angeles County by school location and the school name:

Agoura Hills

Agoura Hills HS

Geertsen, Theodor
Gertz, Isabella
Pourfarzi, Radin
Prince, Emma
Sarti, Charlie

Alhambra

Mark Keppel HS

Luu, Ivan
Ma, Aiden
Zhuo, Thomas

Arcadia

Arcadia HS

Cheng, Esther
Cheng, Patrick Haozhong
Chu, Christopher
Hsiao, Ethan
Lin, Paxton
Sun, Max
Tsai, Lauren

Beverly Hills

Beverly Hills HS

Marmo, Daniel
Matcuk, Arianna

Burbank

Burbank HS

International School Los Angeles

Calabasas

Calabasas HS

Anderson, William
Davis, Riley
Wegman, Micah

Viewpoint School

Hughes, Jasper
Tabandeh, Kian
Walser, Kyla

Carson

California Academy of Mathematics and Science

Chen, Austin
Ge, Anthony
Gupta, Kavi
Hong, Shawn
Kwon, Eugene
Li, Felix
Martinez, Zachary
Okorie, Chukwuebuka
Penrod, Maya
Tefft, Archer
Tsai, Mason
Wheeler, Anthony

Cerritos

Cerritos HS

Gretchen Whitney HS

Bidani, Diya
Chen, Alexander
Dang, Connor
Gupta, Yash
Kim, Ariel
Lala, Om
Park, Justin
Sethi, Shravya
Son, Daniel
Tam, Matthew

Chatsworth

Sierra Canyon School

Claremont

Claremont HS

Webb Schools

Bronshtein, Rebecca
Bush, Kai
Fenner, Joshua
Filson, Aidan
Li, Mingyang
Liu, Yunjia
Lou, Chenyuan
Luo, Albert
Sun, Yichen
Wang, Alexandra
Wu, Zhuoyuan
Zhang, Chenhao

Culver City

Culver City HS

Ashley, Juliet
Carter, Alexander

Diamond Bar

Diamond Bar HS

Cai, Jalen
Chang, Charles
Dai, Aidan
Dai, Fiona
Lee, Lucas
Rauf, AyaanShi, Yuhan
Tran, Justin
Tung, William
Wu, Tzu-Yu
Xie, Emily
Zhang, Qingyuan
Zhi, Zachary

Duarte

California School of the Arts San Gabriel Valley

De Vitton, Hana
Yue, Karina

Eagle Rock

Eagle Rock HS

El Segundo

Vistamar

Glendora

Glendora HS

Han, John
Kern, Henry
Samant, Vikram

Granada Hills

Granada Hills Charter HS

Dabbagh, Muhammad
Kim, Abigail
Shin, Ryan
Yen, Delilah

Valley Academy of Arts and Sciences

Hacienda Heights

Glen A. Wilson HS

La Cañada Flintridge

Flintridge Preparatory School

Fong, Ryan
Liorsdottir, Ruth
Liu, Katelyn
Lu, Siying
Noh, Evan
Shaw, Gabriel
Wang, Ella

La Cañada HS

Chung, Heath
Cooray-Woods, Rihan
Kouz, Peter
Shanas, Reid
Soltanzadeh, Arshan
Sung, Irene
Weinberg, Carlo

St. Francis HS

La Crescenta

Clark Magnet HS

Antoshechkin, Erik
Mnatsakanyan, David

Crescenta Valley HS

Lee, Lauren
Park, Seol-Ah
Seong, Erica
Wilson, Alexander

La Verne

Damien HS

Long Beach

Long Beach Polytechnic HS

Chowdhury, Zaheen
Tsao, Paul

Los Angeles

The Archer School for Girls

Good, Catalina
Travers, Adella
Washburn, Beatrice

Brentwood School

Bergemann, Gabriel
Sarkisian, Amelia

Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts

Benjamin Franklin HS

Geffen Academy at UCLA

Cho, Hana
Ju, Sora
Moore, Danica
Raustiala, Willem
Reynaert, Samuel
Sehati, Benjamin
Ting, James
Xie, Eric
Yang, Mia
Yang, Seri
Zhang, Daniel

Girls Academic Leadership Academy

Alexander Hamilton HS

Homeschool / Online School

Le Lycee Francais

Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies

Los Angeles HS

Loyola HS

Ames, Marco G.
Dumper, Ethan
Harvey, Charles K.
Iluore, Austin O.
Jazmines, Dylan Kaeden K.
Ta-Beadle, Upton S.
Woods, Joseph T.

Marlborough School

Baskin, Caroline
Glazier, Lucy
Tsoneff, Jemma

Milken Community School

New West Charter School

University HS

Windward School

Caruso, Harper S.
Mansouri, Miles J.
Rothenberg, Eden V.
Simon, Vishnu C.
Steinberg, Remy P.
Sullivan, Nathan K.
Wiczyk, Sloane J.

Manhattan Beach

Mira Costa HS

Elliott, Melody
Finigan, Luke
Huang, Geneva
Im, Juliette
Lerner, Mia
Maloney, Katherine
Newbill, Wyatt
Nussbaum, Peter
Prelle, Frederick
Zhang, Max
Zhang, Reese

North Hollywood

North Hollywood HS

Beveridge, Henry D.
Crane, Stella M.
Huang, Charles S.
Kang, April S.
Kim, Euna
Kup, Luna R.
Li, Aden C.
Luke, Guthrie W.
Nadel, Brandon B.
Paik-Heintz, Samuel L.
Park, Lucas T.
Park, Oscar J.
Prakir, Shrisha
Sanz-Agero, Cisco M.

Oakwood School

Kaplan, Wren
Rosenfelt, Oliver

Science Academy STEM Magnet

Badalyan, Naira
Cooper, Gabriel
Limketkai, Aidan S.
Said, Felix N.
Stein, Ryan

Pacific Palisades

Palisades Charter HS

He, Ashley
Kang, Connor
Karish, Dashiel
Temer, Ella

Palos Verdes Estates

Palos Verdes HS

Balaji, Ananya N.
Bhatia, Divya R.
Boixo-Fernandez De La Cigona, Nicolas
Brekke, Maela R.
Sun, Samuel Z.
Viljoen, Anabelle L.
Wu, Tianqi

Palos Verdes Peninsula

Chadwick School

Burke, Lorelei
Lee, Evelyn
Lin, Sophie
Wang, Kevin
Zhang, Sophie
Zheng, Newton

Pasadena

La Salle HS

Polytechnic HS

Dhadwal, Arjun
Hong, Qilan
Hutt, Julietta
Lee, Karissa L.
Liu, Chloe Y.
Shih, Amelia Y.
Trebi-Ollennu, Naomi A.
Wong, Apollo J.

Sequoyah School

Westridge School

Chen, Lily
Du, Ashley
Murray, Larkin

Pomona

Diamond Ranch HS

International Polytechnic HS

Redondo Beach

Barbarie, Veronica
Cohon, Aiden
Kosmala, Nicholas
Min, Emery
Murray, Cameron
Reeds, Olivia

Reseda

Cleveland HS

Rolling Hills Estates

Palos Verdes Peninsula HS

Baek, Justin C.
Chen, Robin Y.
Erikson, John L.
Han, Kevin K.
Kchao, Justin C.
Kowalski, Kaison
Kurosawa, Rina
Lee, Rachel H.
Liu, Grant M.
Liu, Timothy T.
Pourafzal, Keanu M.
Skinner, Andrew P.
Soeng, Nathan M.
Speck, Corey S.
Wilner, Alexandra S.
Yu, Avery
Zhang, Sophia

Rowland Heights

John A. Rowland HS

Tsoi, Leah C.
Ward, Liam A.

San Gabriel

Gabrielino HS

Le, Benjamin H.
Sun, Nicholas X.

San Marino

San Marino HS

Chhek, Ian
Chow, Ethan T.
Kim, Emily J.
Li, Evan N.
Liu, Reece N.
Sun, Spring E.
Tuey, Michelle N.
Wang, Angela H.
Wang, Derek H.
Zhang, Kimberly M.

Santa Clarita

Academy of the Canyons

Jangeesh, Avantika
Rajesh, Thanya
Vagvala, Sricharan

Santa Monica

Crossroads School

Cheuk, Zachary N.
Miller, Graham M.

Santa Monica HS

Chiang, Patrick
Gee, Gregory
Gilyard, Gabriella
Helgoe, Anna
Oleynikov, Matthew
Shapiro, Ilan
Tinus, Jefferson

Saugus

Saugus HS

Sherman Oaks

The Buckley School

Cohan, Scarlett
Henderson, Caroline H.
Joh, Asha
Shin, Philip

South Pasadena

South Pasadena HS

Harrington, Finnian
Huang, Tianhan
Jin, Claire
Kelly Gerakos, Conor
Kim, Abigail
Liu, Luke
Schwartz, Will
Wong, Fredrik
Zhang, Jerry

Studio City

Campbell Hall

Fruchbom, Eli
Shenson, Gavin

Harvard-Westlake School

Ahart, Camille M.
Atluri, Mateo
Cai, Jessie
Chang, Sophie M.
Cheuk, Alexander K.
Condren, Camille
Corman, James M.
Craig, Hal
Duan, Felicia Y.
Fener, Jack
Figlin, Zachary
Gad, Mae F.
Gavin, Alexander A.
Ghassemieh, Dariush
Ghassemieh, Darya
Goksu, Demir H.
Goldman, Mira D.
Gurule, Tali B.
Hadi, David
Handman, Shane C.
Hawkinson, Lucian C.
Hou, Colin
Iyer, Riya S.
Kennedy, Elise J.
Kim, Calvin
Kim, Holden Y.
Lee, Sophie
Martin, Noah C.
Maynard, Morgan
Milakin, Yaroslav
O’Brien, Claire A.
O’Connor, Lucas
Paek, Marcus
Phillips, Hudson K.
Rascoff, Luke J.
Rindone, Andrew
Schlumberger, Margaux
Schneider, Henry J.
Shallman, Noah S.
Song, Angel
Sunwoo, Jackson
Thomas, Julia A.
Um, Nicole S.
Wu, Theodore S.
Zhang, Kevin X.

Tarzana

Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies

Temple City

Temple City HS

Chen, Timothy
Han, Warren

Torrance

Bishop Montgomery HS

Davies, Minami
Hernandez, Kieran
Kim, Leah

South HS

Valencia

Valencia HS

West Ranch HS

Fernandez, Colton B.
Kim, Jun
Lee, Madison J.
Mun, David T.
Ram, Adhvika K.
Rim, Jacob J.
Saravanan, Ajay
Yuan, Yimeng I.

Van Nuys

Van Nuys HS

Walnut

Walnut HS

Hsu, Darren W.
Wong, Brad C.

West Hills

Chaminade College Preparatory

Banerjee, Ritwik
Bhat, Ethan
Goel, Aslan

De Toledo HS

Westlake Village

Oaks Christian School

Bernd, Addilyn
Crawford, Shane
Shen, Zhuoran

Westlake High School

Bieler, Breanna
Fei, Kevin
Lee, Christopher
Qi, Michelle
Yuan, Flora
Zhang, Eric

Woodland Hills

El Camino Real Charter HS

William Howard Taft HS

Volodarskiy, Alec L.
Yang, Summer L.

 

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.

The National Merit Scholarship Program honors individual students who demonstrate “exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies.”

Information: nationalmerit.org