36 Students from the Bergen County Academies named National Merit Semifinalists

36 Students from the Bergen County Academies named National Merit Semifinalists

Hackensack, NJ – The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC®) has recognized 36 students from the Bergen County Academies as semifinalists in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program. These academically distinguished students are among 16,000 semifinalists nationwide who now have the opportunity to compete for approximately 6,930 scholarships valued at nearly $26 million.

Selection as a semifinalist is a prestigious academic honor, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors. More than 1.3 million juniors from approximately 20,000 high schools entered the [year] competition by taking the [year] Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®). According to the NMSC, about 95 percent of semifinalists are expected to advance to the finalist level, and roughly half of those will ultimately earn the title of National Merit Scholar.

Bergen County Academies’ National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists are:

• Paul Tudor Amaritei, Ridgefield
• Afua Brepo Anyadike, Teaneck
• Balaram Chandra, Closter
• Alexander Choi, Cresskill
• Zevi Howard Cohen, Teaneck
• Anjali Hoimun Daftary, Hillsdale
• Mythreya Dharani, Paramus
• Bryan Yuanhao Ding, Closter
• Aarush Goyal, Edgewater
• Bella Lucille Guo, Upper Saddle River
• Gabriele Herr, Franklin Lakes
• Aiden Hong, Englewood Cliffs
• Bomie Jun, Ridgewood
• John Sushant Raju Kalla, Allendale
• Edward Kyungtae Kang, Hackensack
• Allison Kim, Ridgewood
• Max Robin Kim, Old Tappan
• Sophia Kim, Park Ridge
• Tate Jun Kim, Upper Saddle River
• Alexander Kovalenko, Fair Lawn
• Gyumin Kwon, Old Tappan
• Edward Sungjun Lee, Teaneck
• Tina Lin, Fort Lee
• Kristen Anna Marcelin, Elmwood Park
• Michael Wei Middlezong, Paramus
• Hemang Mittal, Ridgewood
• Hyaemhin Moon, Cresskill
• Benjamin Dalton Neibart, New Milford
• Vivian Jisoo Oh, Englewood Cliffs
• Celine Park, Hackensack
• Jiyun Park, Fort Lee
• Raunak Singh, Fair Lawn
• David Szabo-Dery, Oradell
• Neil Wadhwa, Franklin Lakes
• Mohammed Hozefa Zariwala, Ridgewood
• Siena Gwen Zerillo, Closter

Semifinalists advancing to the finalist level will compete for three types of National Merit Scholarships. Every finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit® $2,500 Scholarships that will be awarded on a state-representational basis. About 830 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will also be provided by approximately 150 corporations and business organizations. In addition, about 150 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 3,600 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for finalists who choose to attend the sponsor institution.

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