LAGUNA BEACH, CA — Thirty-two Orange County students — including two in Laguna Beach — were awarded National Merit Scholarships, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced this week.
The students were among 2,500 nationwide that were chosen from more than 15,000 finalists in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program. National Merit $2500 Scholarship winners will receive a $2,500 scholarship from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation's own funds, with underwriting help from corporations and company foundations.
The students were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors who looked at their academic record, Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test scores, school and community activities, essays and recommendations.
The Orange County winners are:
Cypress
Seungwon Jeung, John F. Kennedy High School, La Plama
Fountain Valley
Katelyn Tran, Fountain Valley High School, Fountain Valley
Fullerton
Rhea Ji, Sunny Hills High School, Fullerton
Cynthia D. Kung, Troy High School, Fullerton
Irene Pan, Valencia High School, Placentia
Irvine
Marissa D. Huang, Woodbridge High School, Irvine
Howard J. Jung, Northwood High School, Irvine
Andrew J. Kao, Woodbridge High School, Irvine
Justin Kline, Sage Hill School, Newport Beach
Amber Lin, Tarbut V'Torah Community Day School, Irvine
Lawrence B. Liu, University High School, Irvine
Suhrith S. Muvvala, Portola High School, Irvine
Alina Samiullah, Portola High School, Irvine
David Shim, Loomis Chaffee School, Connecticut
Yangming Sun, Portola High School, Irvine
Luca G. Valdevit, University High School, Irvine
David P. Wong, Crean Lutheran High School, Irvine
Ladera Ranch
Hannah Gu, Tesoro High School, Rancho Santa Margarita
Jackson D. Story, JSerra Catholic High School, San Juan Capistrano
Ryan D. Waung, San Juan Hills High School, San Juan Capistrano
Laguna Beach
Estella Cuyler Newton, Laguna Beach High School, Laguna Beach
Zoe Tran, Laguna Beach High School, Laguna Beach
Los Alamitos
Michael Wu, Los Alamitos High School, Los Alamitos
Newport Coast
Shaurya Mittal, Sage Hill School, Newport Beach
San Clemente
George Tyler Joseph, JSerra Catholic High School, San Juan Capistrano
Tustin
Suraj S. Shah, Arnold O. Beckman High School, Irvine
Yorba Linda
Edwin Danny Anthoniraj, Valencia High School, Placentia
Adam J. Kim, Valencia High School, Placentia
Carson Lim, Valencia High School, Placentia
Aaron Luo, Yorba Linda High School, Yorba Linda
Ethan C. Swarat, Valencia High School, Placentia
Angela Yao, Valencia High School, Placentia
This is the second announcement of National Merit Scholars this year. In April, about 700 recipients of corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards were named. More winners will be announced in June and July.
By the conclusion of this year's competition, about 6,700 high school seniors will receive a total of roughly $24 million in scholarships, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.