Five Pingry seniors are among 16,000 semifinalists in the 2027 National Merit Scholarship Program. The program honors students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies, and the nationwide pool of semifinalists represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors. Including these five students, 34 Pingry students have been semifinalists over the past five years.

Semifinalists:
Eric Chen
Alexander DeLorenzo
Angelina Gao
Ryan Hao
Huixuan (Olivia) Li

To enter the 2027 program, 1.2 million juniors took the 2025 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). The national pool of semifinalists includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. Approximately 15,000 semifinalists are expected to advance to the finals, and 7,500 National Merit Scholarships will be offered next spring. To become a finalist, a semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.


Contact: Greg Waxberg ’96, Assistant Director of Communications, Writer/Editor