Forty-three Pittsford Seniors Recognized in 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program

Pittsford Central School District congratulates its 17 Semifinalists and 26 Commended students recognized in the 2026 National Merit® Scholarship Program. Semifinalists are among the approximately 16,000 highest-scoring entrants selected from an initial pool of 1.3 million students who took the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®) that served as an initial screen of program entrants. Commended Students placed among the top 50,000 entrants.

Semifinalists represent less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors and will advance in the competition for a chance to win one of 6,930 scholarships. While Commended Students will not advance in the competition, they are recognized for their outstanding potential for academic success.

MENDON HIGH SCHOOL:

Semifinalists

Jay Biswas, Kevin Curran, Evan Dai, William Harrington, Jacob Ho, Karthik Jaligama, Ishaan Ramesh, Rain Royce, Yiding Zuo

Commended Students

Daniel R. Brown, Leixi Chen, Rohan Chwalek, Akaash Ejantkar, Suriya Gandhi, Soumya Gupta, Sienna Hughes, Colin Macpherson, Stanislav Nadler, Avery Nelson, Eleanor Noronha, Ognjen Oluic, Omika Patel, Leon Ye, Musa Zafar, Evan Zavalo

SUTHERLAND HIGH SCHOOL:

Semifinalists

Jamie Lyn Earley, Ronit Gevarghese, Mary Minnella, Ryan Shaffer, Michael Shi, Weijun Wang, Ziao Wang, Anderson Warner

Commended Students

Nathan Andolina, Vivian Crane, Charlie Haynes, Theodore Haynes, Adela Huang, Kylie Joseph, Sathya Mandava, Paulina Stefanos, Tejasvi Vijay, Jeremiah Yaar

To become a Finalist, the Semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application in which they provide information about the Semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and 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 SAT® or ACT® scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.

National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) is a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance. It was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by about 300 business organizations, higher education institutions, and individual donors that share NMSC’s goals of honoring the nation’s scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.