Eleven Mira Costa Seniors Named National Merit Semifinalists
Sep 09, 2026 07:44AM ● By Jeanne Fratello
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation today announced the names of more than 16,000 semifinalists in the 72nd annual National Merit Scholarship Program, including 11 seniors from Mira Costa High School.
The semifinalists from Mira Costa High School include:
Melody Elliott
Luke Finigan
Geneva Huang
Juliette Im
Mia Lerner
Katherine Maloney
Wyatt Newbill
Peter Nussbaum
Frederick Prelle
Max Zhang
Reese Zhang
Luke Finigan
Geneva Huang
Juliette Im
Mia Lerner
Katherine Maloney
Wyatt Newbill
Peter Nussbaum
Frederick Prelle
Max Zhang
Reese Zhang
More than 1.2 million juniors in approximately 20,000 high schools across the country entered the 2027 National Merit Scholarship Program in their junior year by taking the 2025 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of semifinalists represents less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors and includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. (The number of semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.)
Of the many award opportunities offered throughout a student's senior year of high school, the National Merit Semifinalist award is one of the rarest and most prestigious.
(Note that the National Merit Scholarship Program honors individual
students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success
in rigorous college studies. The program does not measure the quality
or effectiveness of education within a school, system, or state - which is why official reports don't compare the number of winners from school to school, or from year to year.)
Next Steps in Competition
To be considered for a National Merit Scholarship award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition. About 95 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and approximately half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship.
To become a finalist, the semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. 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.
Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in spring 2027. Every finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit® $2500 Scholarships that will be awarded on a state-representational basis. Additional awards include about 700 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards and some 3,500 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.
