Eight seniors named National Merit Scholar Semifinalists

Eight Peddie seniors have been named semifinalists for the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program, setting a new record for the school. Devjit Bhattacharya, Tomaz Chevres, Leia Jung, Ryan Rong, Angad Singh, Sophia Wu, Kaitlyn Yang and Karen Yao are now on the cusp of becoming National Merit Scholars, a distinction reserved for the most exceptional students nationwide.

The semifinalists represent less than one percent of all high school seniors in the United States and include the highest-scoring entrants on the 2022 PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. According to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, about 95 percent of semifinalists will advance to the finalist level of the competition in February, where they will vie for coveted National Merit Scholarships.

Additionally, Peddie celebrates the achievements of 32 students, comprising the highest percentage ever for the school within a graduating class, recognized as “National Merit Commended Students.” These students have placed among the top 50,000 scorers nationwide.

The students are Aarav Bhardwaj, Dalina Cao, Claire Chen, Enru Chi, Rachel Chung, Edward Eum, Carolyn Gu, Yixuan (Kyle) Jia, Ziji Jin, JunYup (Justin) Kim, George Ko, Alexander Kong, M Lallier, Emma Li, Nash Li, Tiger Li, Ryan Liu, Maya Lougy, Shane Patel, Anushka Poddar, Yeon-Soo (Adele) Raillot, Savir Singh, Sukhroop Singh, Kyle Song, Ryan Thomas, Shivani Verma, Yi Chen (Yang) Wang, Yi Hao (Ming) Wang, Kefei Wu, Marvin Zhang, Bohan (Andy) Zheng and Curtis Zhou.

College Board honors three students

Three outstanding students from Peddie have earned prestigious academic honors from the College Board National Recognition Programs, providing a unique opportunity for them to showcase their academic prowess to colleges and scholarship programs actively seeking diverse talent.

Among the recipients, Carolina Lopez Watt ’25 has been awarded the National Hispanic Recognition Award, while Rachel Adjei ’24 and Sofia Romanelli ’25 have been honored with the National African American Recognition Award.

To qualify for these prestigious honors, students must meet specific criteria, including maintaining a GPA of 3.5 or higher, achieving PSAT/NMSQT or PSAT 10 assessment scores that rank them among the top 10% of assessment takers in their respective states for each award program, or earning a score of 3 or higher on two or more AP Exams during their 9th and 10th-grade years. Additionally, eligible students must either hail from a rural area or small town or self-identify as African American/Black, Hispanic American/Latino, or Indigenous/Native.

Students are invited to apply during their sophomore or junior years through BigFuture and receive their awards at the start of the following school year. This timing allows them to proudly highlight their high school achievements as they embark on their future academic journeys. Simultaneously, colleges and organizations utilizing the College Board’s Student Search Service can directly engage with these accomplished awardees during the recruitment process.