6 Peddie School Students Named National Merit Semifinalists

HIGHTSTOWN — Six Peddie School seniors have been named semifinalists in the 2027 National Merit Scholarship Program, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced Sept. 9.

Chloe Cheng, Freja Jensen Pedersen, Charlotte Xing-Er Ji Dressel, Sophie Wang, Chloe Yang and Bryan Zhao are among more than 16,000 students nationwide who advanced to the semifinalist round. They now have the opportunity to continue competing for about 6,700 National Merit Scholarships worth approximately $24 million that will be offered next spring.

Semifinalists represent less than 1 percent of U.S. high school seniors and are the highest-scoring entrants in each state among more than 1.2 million juniors nationwide who entered the competition by taking the 2025 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

To advance to finalist standing, semifinalists must submit a detailed scholarship application that includes their academic record, participation in school and community activities, leadership experience and an essay. They must also be endorsed by a high school official and confirm their qualifying test performance with SAT or ACT scores.

About 95 percent of semifinalists nationwide are expected to reach finalist standing, and roughly half of finalists will go on to win a National Merit Scholarship. Winners will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April 2027 and concluding in July 2027.

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