Allen High School has announced that 26 of its seniors have been recognized as Semifinalists in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program. These students are among approximately 16,000 Semifinalists nationwide who now qualify to compete for more than 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $33 million.
This year’s Semifinalists represent less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors and are the highest-scoring entrants in each state based on the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). In Texas, students who earned a selection index score of 222 or higher were designated as Semifinalists, with 1,673 Texas students meeting that threshold.
"These students are truly exceptional and deserve to be celebrated," said José Salas, M.Ed., Advanced Academics Coordinator at Allen High School. "Their hard work, intellectual curiosity, and commitment to academic excellence are what earned them this national recognition."
The National Merit Scholarship Program encourages academic excellence and supports student achievement through rigorous collegiate standards. Semifinalists must now fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level, including submitting a detailed application, a personal essay, and a strong academic record supported by a school official's recommendation. Finalists will be announced in February 2026.
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Congratulations to all 26 Allen High School Semifinalists for earning this distinguished academic honor.
Allen High School 2026 National Merit Semifinalists:
Jake W Bailey
Aarnav Bansal
Ashley Chen
Mark G Church
Andrew P Dai
Aaditya Ghosh
Ektoras Huang
Allison J Hughes
Kingston A Huynh
Sebin M James
Zohaib S Khan
Manu Kutagula
Advaiya Lad
Adrian C Lin
Joel T Mathew
Vedant Mohapatra
Ramiz A Nackvi
Kavela P Putcha
Uzair A Rahman
Aaryan P Salunke
Saanavi Shah
Saketh Sripada
Alex Wang
Andrew C Wang
Sahasra Yellepeddi
Chunyue Zheng
