Hoboken High School Teen Named National Merit Semifinalist

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — Each September, high-achieving high school students across the country are chosen as semifinalists for a $2,000-per-year grant for college from the National Merit Scholarship Program.

The first round of choices is based solely on the students' PSAT scores from their junior year.

Next spring, the group will be narrowed based on their high school achievements and other factors.

The National Merit Scholarship Board released its new list of semifinalists on Tuesday, including dozens from New Jersey high schools.

Among them were five students from Hudson County schools, including Hoboken High School.

Hoboken High Nominee

Carolina Fernandez is the nominee from Hoboken. According to school media channels, she participates in Harvard Model Congress, the tennis team, and other activities.

Last year, Hoboken High also had a nominee, Lucas Daly, who went on to attend Brown University.

The year before that, Madison Walia Peters was a semifinalist and won a scholarship. She is now a pre-med student at Harvard University.

Other Hudson County Semifinalists

The other semifinalists in Hudson County are:

St. Peter's Prep, Jersey City

Pratyush Majumdar

High Tech High (Hudson County Schools Of Technology), Secaucus

Parth Khot

Jose Marti Stem Academy, Union City

Lehansa C. Marambage

Nationally, 16,000 students were chosen as semifinalists. This includes students from private schools, on-line schools, and county magnet schools. All students take the same PSAT to qualify.

By spring 2027, the group will be narrowed down to finalists and then scholarship recipients.