Bridgewater-Raritan HS Has 18 National Merit Semifinalists, Most In 5 Years

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Bridgewater-Raritan High School has 18 students named semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Corporation’s 71st annual National Merit Scholarship Program, the largest number for the school in the past five years.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced the Bridgewater-Raritan students as part of a group of more than 16,000 semifinalists nationwide.

Since 2022, the number of semifinalists from Bridgewater-Raritan High School has increased each year, according to the information released by the school.

This year’s total of 18 is up from 16 last year, 13 in 2024, 12 in 2023 and 10 in 2022.

Principal Dan Hemberger praised both the students and the school’s academic program after the new semifinalist count was announced.

"Each year, it is inspiring to recognize our National Merit Finalists and Commended Students," Hemberger said. "Watching these numbers grow year after year is a true testament to our students' hard work and the strength of the academic program at Bridgewater-Raritan High School. Congratulations!"

According to a press release from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, the semifinalists now have an opportunity to continue competing for about 6,930 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million, which will be offered in the spring of 2027.

To advance, semifinalists must meet several requirements to reach finalist standing.

The corporation said about 95 percent of semifinalists are expected to become finalists, and about half of those students will receive a National Merit Scholarship and the title of Merit Scholar.

The program began with more than 1.3 million juniors in about 20,000 high schools who entered the 2026 competition by taking the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as the initial screen.

The national semifinalist pool represents less than 1 percent of U.S. high school seniors and includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state, according to the corporation.

Winners of the 2026 National Merit Scholarship will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July.

The 18 Bridgewater-Raritan High School semifinalists are:

• Chole Amato
• Saharsh S Bangaru
• Lucia A. Bolle
• Shiven Das
• Anna X Gu
• Harshit Kondle
• Wesley H Lin
• Sophia X. Liu
• Kairav Mehta
• Apurva Ramasamy
• Dhiya Selvakumar
• Ishaan A.Shetty
• Jigar H.Shroff
• Pranav Swarna
• Vedaang Verma
• Jasmine O. Young
• Ethan Zhang
• Guanqi Zhu