117 Broward County students have been named Semifinalists in the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program.
“This is an incredible honor for every student, and we are so proud of each of them for being recognized for their outstanding scores and academic achievements,” said education advocate Sandra Dubose.
The National Merit Scholarship Program was founded to identify and honor scholastically talented American youth and to encourage them to develop their abilities to the fullest. Only 1% of the 1.6 million entrants are selected as Semifinalists each year. The Semifinalists are students who achieve the highest scores on the PSAT/NMSQT in their respective states.
Coral Springs & Parkland semifinalists included:
- Olivia Schwartz, Coral Glades High School
- Thomas Ferguson, Coral Springs Homeschooler
- Jason Choy, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
- Nabeeha Haque, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
- Rushil Jothur, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
- Joshua Schwartz, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
- Ethan Becker, North Broward Preparatory School
- Devraj Gopal, North Broward Preparatory School
- Cailey Katz, North Broward Preparatory School
Davie and Cooper City semifinalists included:
- Mario Ahued, Calvary Christian Academy
- Brandon Fingal, Fort Lauderdale High School
- Rebecca Adler, Pine Crest School
- Lucas Almeida, Pine Crest School
- Sydney Bianco, Pine Crest School
- Camila Goldszmidt, Pine Crest School
- Michael Greenberg, Pine Crest School
- Daniel Kathein, Pine Crest School
- Anne Elizabeth Kurt, Pine Crest School
- Ava Malkin, Pine Crest School
- Krisztian Meszaros, Pine Crest School
- Joie Rodin, Pine Crest School
- Danielle Snyder, Pine Crest School
- Kyla Truong, Pine Crest School
- Daniel Wilentz, Pine Crest School
- Thomas Yevoli, Pine Crest School
- Liam Connor, Saint Thomas Aquinas High School
- Mary Dwyer, Saint Thomas Aquinas High School
- Timothy Grecsek, Saint Thomas Aquinas High School
- Stephany Jimenez,Saint Thomas Aquinas High School
- Cyrus Kell, Saint Thomas Aquinas High School
- Max Pannell, Saint Thomas Aquinas High School
- Katlyn Ross, Saint Thomas Aquinas High School
- Katerina Tansey, Saint Thomas Aquinas High School
Fort Lauderdale semifinalists included:
- Mario Ahued, Calvary Christian Academy
- Brandon Fingal, Fort Lauderdale High School
- Rebecca Adler, Pine Crest School
- Lucas Almeida, Pine Crest School
- Sydney Bianco, Pine Crest School
- Camila Goldszmidt, Pine Crest School
- Michael Greenberg, Pine Crest School
- Daniel Kathein, Pine Crest School
- Anne Elizabeth Kurt, Pine Crest School
- Ava Malkin, Pine Crest School
- Krisztian Meszaros, Pine Crest School
- Joie Rodin, Pine Crest School
- Danielle Snyder, Pine Crest School
- Kyla Truong, Pine Crest School
- Daniel Wilentz, Pine Crest School
- Thomas Yevoli, Pine Crest School
- Liam Connor, Saint Thomas Aquinas High School
- Mary Dwyer, Saint Thomas Aquinas High School
- Timothy Grecsek, Saint Thomas Aquinas High School
- Stephany Jimenez, Saint Thomas Aquinas High School
- Cyrus Kell, Saint Thomas Aquinas High School
- Max Pannell, Saint Thomas Aquinas High School
- Katlyn Ross, Saint Thomas Aquinas High School
- Katerina Tansey, Saint Thomas Aquinas High School
Pines and Miramar semifinalists included:
- Rebecca Lim, Pembroke Pines Charter High School
- Ryan Garcia, West Broward High School
- Nikash Jakkidi, West Broward High School
- Taylor Pierson, West Broward High School
Plantation semifinalists included:
- Kylie King, Plantation High School
- Jason Vadnos, Plantation High School
- Sophia Abati, American Heritage
- Carly Aikens, American Heritage
- Aaden Albury, American Heritage
- Trace Binder, American Heritage
- Sarah Brown, American Heritage
- Evan Burkeen, American Heritage
- Sabrina Califano, American Heritage
- Serenity Chan, American Heritage
- Jocelyn Chen, American Heritage
- Leonid Cherevko, American Heritage
- Jennifer Chiou, American Heritage
- Andrei Codreanu, American Heritage
- Noelle Crichton, American Heritage
- Srijan Deoraj, American Heritage
- Hailey Diaz, American Heritage
- John Diaz, American Heritage
- Deniz Esen, American Heritage
- Alizain Fatehali, American Heritage
- Luke Freed, American Heritage
- Christopher Gaski, American Heritage
- Jack Gonzalez, American Heritage
- Morgan Kelsey Laidler, American Heritage
- Savanah Lares, American Heritage
- Logan Lary, American Heritage
- Emma Leonard, American Heritage
- Hannah Letzelter, American Heritage
- Caroline Levin-Cardenas, American Heritage
- Kenneth Lin, American Heritage
- Amy Liu, American Heritage
- Hugo Liu, American Heritage
- Sarah Liu, American Heritage
- Alana Lodin, American Heritage
- Daniel Lopez, American Heritage
- Mudit Marwaha, American Heritage
- Srihith Nooka, American Heritage
- Akanksha Patra, American Heritage
- Alicia Ramirez, American Heritage
- Jonathan Romanelli, American Heritage
- Sebastian Salaues Sevo, American Heritage
- Ana Sanchez, American Heritage
- Anagh Sangavarapu, American Heritage
- Josh Sarkarati, American Heritage
- Sharvaa Selvan, American Heritage
- Carolina Silva, American Heritage
- Sanshray Singh, American Heritage
- Stephen John Sykes, American Heritage
- Alfredo Vega, American Heritage
- Jonathan Wang, American Heritage
- Yanjun Wang, American Heritage
- Alan Wu, American Heritage
- Angelina Wu, American Heritage
- Rosa Wu, American Heritage
- Emilee Zhou, American Heritage
- Clayton Zipperian, American Heritage
Weston semifinalists included:
- Daphne Calin, Cypress Bay High School
- Atiksh Chandra, Cypress Bay High School
- Sebastian Correcha, Cypress Bay High School
- Gabriele Di Gianluca, Cypress Bay High School
- Daniel Garcia, Cypress Bay High School
- Erick Mondragon, Cypress Bay High School
- Sastha Rajamanikandan, Cypress Bay High School
- Emma Rose, Cypress Bay High School
- Xabier Sienra, Cypress Bay High School
- Sahana Thayagabalu, Cypress Bay High School
- Daniel Umarov, Cypress Bay High School
7,250 of the Semifinalists go on to win scholarships. The winners are selected on a state-by-state basis and are judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies. NMSC winners receive a $2,500 scholarship and the honor of being a Nation Merit Scholar.
In order to become a 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. Semifinalists must also submit a detailed scholarship application which includes information about their academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, as well as honors and awards received.
Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2023. Every Finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit® $2500 Scholarships that will be awarded on a state-representational basis. About 950 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 180 corporations and business organizations for Finalists who meet their specified criteria, such as children of the grantor’s employees or residents of communities where sponsor plants or offices are located. In addition, about 160 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 3,800 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for Finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.
National Merit Scholarship winners of 2023 will be announced beginning in April and concluding in July. These scholarship recipients will join nearly 368,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.
Learn more about the National Merit Scholarship program at
www.nationalmerit.org