GFA is pleased to announce this year’s 13 National Merit Scholarship honorees—one semifinalist and 12 commended students.
Oliver R. ’26 has been named Semifinalists in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Competition. He will have an opportunity to continue in the competition for a National Merit Scholarship next spring. In addition, 12 GFA seniors were named to the Commended Students list: Nate B. ’26, Alexis C. ’26, Tristan E. ’26, Peter G. ’26, Sean K. ’26, Mikaela L. ’26, Max M. ’26, Max M. ’26, Jean-Gabriel M. ’26, Grace O. ’26, Hadley R. ’26, and Aksel R. ’26.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) is a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance. It 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 280 business organizations, higher education institutions, and individual donors that share NMSC's goals of honoring the nation's scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.
Over 1.3 million juniors in about 20,000 high schools entered the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying
Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state.
Congratulations to all for this well-deserved honor!