National Merit Scholar Semifinalists for 2023 Include 14 MHS Students, Plus Local Private Schoolers

By Barbara A. Preston l September 13, 2022 — Updated September 16, 2022

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced the names of 14 Montgomery High School students; one Wilberforce School senior from Rocky Hill; and two Princeton Day School students from Skillman as semifinalists in the 68th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

Skillman residents Gavin Yang (center) and Navaneeth Rajan (right) with Princeton resident Dhruv Balaji (left) attend Princeton Day School, and are three of 17 local National Merit Scholarship semifinalists.

The program honors individual students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies. Last year, MHS had 30 semifinalists — which was an exceptionally high number, in fact, one of the highest in the state of NJ.

Anneka Steen of Rocky Hill is a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist.

Congratulations to the following Montgomery High School students, and private schoolers, for earning achievement as National Merit Scholarship semifinalists. The distinction places them in the top one percent of U.S. high school seniors.

WILBERFORCE SCHOOL of PRINCETON

Anneka J. Steen of Rocky Hill

MONTGOMERY HIGH SCHOOL, SKILLMAN

Rohan M. Athreya

George W. Cao

Mohit Dutta

Kailey M. Epstein

Catherine H. Feng

Rijel R. Fuller

Emily Y. Gong

Sanskar Jain

Siddanth Pabba

Miranda S. Qing

Aadi S. Vadhavkar

Suprathik Vinayakula

Alissa Wu

Eugenie Y. Zhu

PRINCETON DAY SCHOOL, Princeton

Navaneeth Rajan, Skillman

Gavin Yang, Skillman

Dhruv Balaji, Princeton

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High school juniors entered the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2021 Preliminary SAT (PSAT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. About 95 percent of semifinalists become finalists, according to program officials. To become a semifinalist, a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the student's academic record, participation in school and community activities, leadership abilities, employment, and honors/awards received. 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 high SAT or ACT scores.