Bergen County’s Academic All-Stars: See Who Made the National Merit Semi-Finalist List for 2025-2026
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Every year, an elite group of high school students across the country are recognized for their exceptional academic achievements. This year, dozens of talented students from Bergen County, New Jersey, have earned the prestigious title of National Merit Scholarship Program Semifinalist. This honor is the first step in a competitive journey toward a valuable college scholarship.
What is the National Merit Scholarship Program?
The National Merit Scholarship Program is an annual academic competition for recognition and college scholarships. High school students enter the program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) during their junior year. A very small percentage of the highest scorers are named Semifinalists. This distinction places them in the running for one of three types of National Merit Scholarships, which can be a significant boost toward funding their higher education.
These students have demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to their studies and have achieved a top score on a demanding nationwide test. Their hard work has paid off, and they now have the opportunity to compete for a four-year, no-strings-attached scholarship.
What’s Next for the Semifinalists?
Next spring, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation will narrow down this talented group to a list of Finalists. The Finalists are chosen based on their outstanding academic record, participation in school and community activities, leadership abilities, and honors received. Their PSAT scores, a recommendation from a high school official, and an essay are also considered.
From this pool of Finalists, approximately 7,140 will be selected to receive National Merit Scholarships. The winners are chosen for their strong potential for success in college and beyond.
Bergen County’s 2025-2026 National Merit Semifinalists
Congratulations to all the remarkable students who have been named National Merit Semifinalists. This is a testament to their dedication, as well as the support of their families and educators.
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
Oradell, River Dell Regional High
- Doo, Maxx
- Son, Ethan
Paramus, Frisch School
- Dweck, Marc
- Korn, Adiv
- Wachsman, Serena
Paramus High School
- Gershengoren, Aidan
Park Ridge High School
- Underwood, Nicholas
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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Congratulations to all. Clearly Westwood Regional needs to fire BOE high taxes no results!
The top 1 percent of High School PSAT test-takers in New Jersey are named PSAT Semifinalists.
The top half of that group are named PSAT finalists.
Year in, and year out, the test score cutoff, the actual raw test score needed, to reach semifinalist status, is highest right here, in good old New Jersey.
In other words, it’s in New Jersey, not New York, not D.C, etc., where a high school junior taking the PSAT will find the highest level of competition for this distinction.
The debate will probably never end as to how much of this PSAT dominance in New Jersey is due to huge amounts of time and money spent on professional tutoring services.
But…to be the man, you have to beat the man. And no other state is threatening to topple New Jersey, the PSAT champ.