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. Only students who score high on their PSAT test are in the running.

Next spring, the group will be narrowed down based on their high school achievements and other factors. Finalists will be chosen for the no-strings-attached four-year scholarships.
On Wednesday, the National Merit Scholarship Board released its new list of semifinalists.
Below are students attending school in Bergen County who made the list.
Last year, dozens of Bergen County students made the finals. (See the list of 2024 winners and their career and college goals here.)
Bergen County Semi-Finalists, 2025-2026
Allendale: Northern Highlands Regional High School
McCarthy, Ryan
O’Dea, Patrick J.
Reilly, Jack S.
Bergenfield High School
Le, Tyler
Cresskill High School
Kim, Gavin
Kwon, Leah Y.
Lee, Victoria
Levin-Gur, Ilai

Demarest, Academy of the Holy Angels
Hur, Christina
Kim, Sarahsihu

Bergen County Institutes for Science and Technology
Malady, Charlotte

Northern Valley Regional High School
Panjwani, Meesum
Park, Leah
Sasmaz, Dalia
Song, Justin

Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan
Andreuzzi, Nolan
Kwak, Ho Jin
Taylor, Zane
Englewood, Dwight-Englewood School
Golden, Ripley
Koppelman, Max
Newman, Ezra
Zhu, Christopher

Fair Lawn High School
Merenoff, Jordyn
Glen Rock High School
Merchant, John R.
Yoo, Joseph J.

Hackensack, Bergen County Academies
Amaritei, Paul
Anyadike, Afua
Chandra, Balaram<
Choi, Alexander
Cohen, Zevi
Daftary, Anjali
Dharani, Mythreya
Ding, Bryan
Goyal, Aarush
Guo, Bella
Herr, Gabriele
Hong, Aiden
Jun, Bomie
Kalla, John
Kang, Edward
Kim, Allison
Kim, Max
Kim, Sophia
Kim, Tate
Kovalenko, Alexander
Kwon, Gyumin
Lee, Edward
Lin, Tina
Marcelin, Kirsten
Middlezong, Michael
Mittal, Hemang
Moon, Hyaemhin
Neibart, Benjamin
Oh, Vivian
Park, Celine
Park, Jiyun
Singh, Raunak
Szabo-Dery, David
Wadhwa, Neil
Zariwala, Mohammed
Zerillo, Siena
Hillsdale, Pascack Valley High School
Van Veen, Thijs
Leonia High School
Kim, Taeyeon
Mahwah High School
Borker, Aarush R.
Vyas, Nishtha H.
Zhang, Arnold Z.
Montvale, Pascack Hills High School
Jeong, Nathan
Yoo, Justin
Ramsey, Don Bosco Preparatory
Viray, Julius N.

Ridgewood High School
Choe, Remy J.
Lee-Garcia, Tashi
Nasr, William J.
Ozburn, William B.
Park, Emily
Tenafly High School
Feng, Jesse
Guo, Wendy
Kim, Chang Yoon
Kim, Jennifer Y.
Wang, Edward Z.
Yuan, Eric
Zhang, Melinda X.
Zhou, William S.

Teterboro, Bergen County Technical High School
Bryzek, Julien
Fuschetto, Cristina
Liu, Laura
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Since they are sometimes organized by regional school or private school and not town, there may be a few missing from this list. If your child is missing or their name is incorrect, please email us.

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