On Sept. 10, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced the semifinalists for the National Merit Scholarship Program. Every year, only 16,000 students receive recognition from over 1.3 million test takers, and nine students from Oxford have been recognized for this award. Seniors Om Gupta, Matthew Hong, Daniel Hwang, Hilo Luu, Cindy Nguyen, Trina So, Nathan Truong, Theodore Vang, and Jaden Zhang have qualified as National Merit Semifinalists.
These students scored the top one percent in the state for the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMQST), which is offered to students during October of their junior year, testing reading, writing, and mathematical skills.
“I knew I had put in the work to prepare, but of course, you never know until you receive your score,” So said.
Semifinalists must submit a high school transcript, a personal essay, extracurricular, and leadership activities after qualifying, along with a high school recommendation. These supplements are used to give evaluators a complete view of the student’s academic performance after the student qualifies with initial test scores.
“I actually forgot to answer some questions at the start asking about your school and stuff and that made me ineligible, so I had to go through the whole process of going to the [National Merit] website and submitting my answers…after that I found out I qualified,” Hong said.
After qualifying as semifinalists, students have the opportunity to advance to the next round as finalists, with approximately 15,000 of the 16,000 semifinalists earning this title, potentially earning the chance to be considered for a National Merit Scholarship.
Students are able to use a variety of ways to prepare for the PSAT, with free resources being offered through Bluebook, Khan Academy, and official practice tests. Some students may choose to take paid tutoring classes.
“I mainly used Bluebook practice tests and Khan Academy, but the key for me was probably reviewing ninth grade math and other concepts from past years. That’s my primary recommendation for other students!” Nguyen said.
The PSAT tests similar foundational concepts to the SAT, a standardized test for high schoolers also administered through CollegeBoard, the non-profit organization that administers the PSAT as well as Advanced Placement (AP) tests for a variety of subjects.
For the 2025-26 school year, the PSAT is being administered on Oct. 11, with the class of 2027 participating to potentially qualify as National Merit Semifinalists.
“Start studying early. It isn’t enough just to take practice tests to study; you should be studying material related to the test too, such as grammar, vocab, and reading comprehension in order to get a good score on English. Math just requires tons of practice,” Zhang said.
National Merit Finalists will be notified in early February of 2026, and will be eligible for National Merit Scholarships as well as corporate scholarships or college-sponsored scholarships.
