All Semifinalists are eligible to compete for 7,500 National Merit Scholarship awards worth nearly $28 million, to be awarded in spring 2024. Semifinalists advance to finalist standing in the competition by meeting high academic standards and other requirements including a recommendation from a high school official.
Fairfax High School 2024 National Merit Semifinalists are: Maya Kamat, Shivani Kanjerla, Alicia Kim.
Approximately 16,000 high school seniors were named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists for 2024. More than 1.5 million juniors entered the 2024 National Merit program by taking the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which serves as the initial screen of program entrants.
The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, which represents less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest scoring entrants in each state. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors. These determinations are made by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, not FCPS or individual schools.
Three types of Merit Scholarship awards will be offered in 2024: National Merit $2,500 scholarships, corporate-sponsored scholarships, and college-sponsored scholarships.
Merit Scholarship winners will be announced in spring 2024. Information regarding FCPS students who have been recognized as a Commended Student by NMSC will be available soon.
