These Macon, Middle GA students are 2026 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists
More than 16,000 semifinalists were announced Wednesday for the 71st annual National Merit Scholarship Program, with Middle Georgia among the regions represented.
Six high school seniors in the area were named as recipients and will now compete for nearly 7,000 college scholarships totaling nearly $26 million that will be awarded in the spring, according to a news release from the National Merit Scholarship Corp.
Semifinalists were selected from among more than 1.3 million high school juniors who were top scorers on the 2024 PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.
“The nationwide pool of semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state,” the nonprofit said.
Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to be considered for a Merit Scholarship award and advance to the finalist level of the competition.
About 15,000 semifinalists across the nation are expected to advance to the finalist stage of the competition, and they will be notified of the designation in February.
Finalists will be considered for $2,500 National Merit scholarships, plus additional corporate-sponsored and college/university-sponsored scholarships that will be announced later in the school year.
Here are the semifinalists from Middle Georgia:
- Hannah Goodwin of Mary Persons High School in Forsyth
- Tristan Southerland of the Academy for Classical Education in Macon
- Jacob Burnsed of First Presbyterian Day School in Macon
- Zoie Burnsed of First Presbyterian Day School in Macon
- Kelty Glenn of Stratford Academy in Macon
- Tony Xu of Stratford Academy in Macon