Marcus Schwartz ’26 Named National Merit Semifinalist

Students entered the 2026 program by taking the 2024 Preliminary SAT/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 qualifying scores in Maryland are among the highest in the country, making Schwartz’s achievement even more notable.

 

Schwartz now has the opportunity to advance and be considered for the program’s highest honor, National Merit Finalist. A Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT® or ACT® scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test. Finalists will be notified in February 2026.

 

Over 16,000 Semifinalists were named in the 71^st annual National Merit Scholarship Program and will have the opportunity to become finalists and compete for some 6,930 Merit Scholarship® awards worth nearly $26 million.

In addition to Schwartz becoming a Semifinalist, five other Severn School students were named National Merit Commended Students, signifying that their PSAT performance was in the top 4% of test takers. They are:

Severn congratulates these students on their academic achievements.