The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced the names of approximately 16,000 semifinalists in the 2026 annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Among the semifinalists are 12 Ithaca High School seniors:

  • Andrew Gao

  • Elijah Kelly

  • Mattias Keresztes

  • Josephine King

  • Joseph Levine

  • Linnea Niemck

  • Maria Sun

  • Katherine Thomas

  • Benjamin Wagner

  • Lily Wang

  • Chanhyeong Yoon

  • Connie Zheng

The semifinalists now have an opportunity to continue competing for National Merit Scholarships, which will be awarded in the spring. Congratulations to these scholars!