Thirteen Bridgewater-Raritan High School seniors were recently announced to be National Merit Semifinalists for 2025 by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

These elite students who achieved this honor are  Harsha Ahmed, Aritra Banerjee, Sidak Chahal, Joon Young Doh, Saanvi Goel, Armaan Kabra, John Martinez, Christopher Qiu, Leah Rader, Abhay Sankar, Patrick Walsh, Christine Xu, and Lily Xu.

The National Merit Scholarship has a few steps. First, high school juniors around the nation take the PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT). This year, there were around 1.3 million test-takers across 21,000 high schools. Next, the top-performing students in each state are named Semifinalists; in this case, a total of only 16,000 seniors, less than one percent of all those taking the PSAT.

From here, according to the Corporation, around 95 percent of the group will advance to become Finalists, from which about half will receive Merit Scholarships. The scholarship provides a sum of $2,500 for the winners, but applicants must first submit a detailed application involving their academic history, extracurriculars, volunteering, and honors/awards.

Harsha Ahmed, one of the National Merit Scholars, considered what this meant for him.

“I’m proud of my achievement, and I hope to keep doing great things, as well as going for the Scholarship itself,” he said.

Meanwhile, Christine Xu, another scholar, recounted her family’s reaction to the news.

“[They] were overjoyed, and proud of my accomplishment. They’re hopeful to see me succeed in getting the scholarship,” she said.

Xu also embraced her National Merit Scholar company at Bridgewater-Raritan High School.

“[I am] honored to represent Bridgewater-Raritan High School the fact that we have 13 semifinalists is a testament to our school’s thriving academic environment,” she added.

The scholarship winners will be announced in four press releases from April to May of next year.