Which Bergen County Towns Had National Merit Semifinalists This Year?

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — Today's teens have been tested in many ways, but there's only one test that can qualify them for a competitive National Merit Scholarship for all four years of college.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced late last week its list of semifinalists for their annual awards, with finalists and winners to be announced in spring 2024.

The process begins when students take their PSAT as a sophomore or junior in high school. Tens of thousands of students are chosen as Commended scholars.

During those students' senior year, the number is whittled to a list of semi-finalists. In a recent year, 16,000 semifinalists were chosen.

Then, to continue competing, they must submit an essay, recommendations, and more.

In spring, some of the student receive a $2,500 scholarship for college, while others may win an amount from a specific company or a chosen college.

Bergen County Semifinalists

Not all towns have semiinalists, but a handful of Bergen County towns made the list.

There were also several semifinalists at countywide magnet schools.

Here are the lists:

From Bergen County Academies in Hackensack:

Bovell, Nikhil
Bunal, Patrick D.
Calaman, Skyler
Chang, Claire
Jain, Yessica
Jhaveri, Shlok
Joshi, Rohan
Kalia, Disha
Kim, Joshua
Kim, Peter
Lamba, Riddhi
Lee, Luna
Lee, Reia
Lee, Sasha
Lekan, Angela
Lerman, Matthew
Li, Angela
Park, Chloe J.
Pitcock, Jeremy
Pospichalova, Anezka
Ren, Joy I.
Rodriguez, Christopher
Sallam, Yusuf
Santoshi, Aarush
Shah, Arham
Shi, Emma
Singh, Rishabh
Specht, Matthew D.
Tkach, Sofiya
Vadakken, Hannah
Wen, Zoey
Zhou, Maggie

From Bergen County Technical High School:

Cho, Kevin
Mathews, Anurag
Park, Jacqueline
Song, Matthew
Song, Natalie

Don Bosco Prep:

Finnegan, Harrison M.
Gehrig, Thomas J.

Dwight-Englewood School:

Ma, Ainsley
Rajan, Uma V.

Fair Lawn H.S.

DiPaulo, Frank

Fort Lee H.S.:

Cheon, Michelle S.
Ouerfelli, Heba

Northern Highlands Regional H.S.:

Rahman, Ryan

Mahwah High School:

Merrick T. Sharp

From Leonia H.S.:

Cho, Julia E.

From Mountain Lakes H.S.:

Lee, Justin L.
Li, Karri E.
Wu, Elaine

From Old Tappan, Northern Valley Regional H.S.:

Lee, Hannah J.

Oradell/River Dell Regional H.S.

Choi, Yejun
Chu, Adam Y.
Lee, Chloe H.
Yu, Nora J.

Paramus H.S.

Heriveaux, Arlene
Park, Ian

Pascack Hills H.S.:

Chun, Ashley
Ge, Olivia
Heit, Adriane
Lim, Hyunjun

Park Ridge H. S.

Gounder, Kavya

Ridgewood High School:

Jun, Jaywu
Jung, Emily Y.
Kotchkin, Nathan Y.
Liu, Gia

Teaneck, Ma'ayanot Yeshiva H.S. For Girls:

Kurz, Aviva K.

Tenafly High School:

Cho, Derek
Cho, Won-Hee
Dreyer, Benjamin
Goldberg, Nathan G.
Hui, Yuanning
Kim, Junhyoung
Song, Kai
Swaminathan, Adityan
Yan, Jacqueline L.
Yoon, Elliott J.

NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was
established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 340 business
organizations and higher education institutions.