Sunnyvale ISD is proud to announce that two students have been named semifinalists in the prestigious 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program: Obasi Nwanyanwu and Sara John. This distinguished honor places these students among the top 1% of academic performers in the nation, recognizing their exceptional achievements on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).
These academically talented high school seniors now have the opportunity to advance in the competition for nearly 6,870 National Merit Scholarships worth a combined $26 million, to be awarded next spring. About 95% of semifinalists are expected to advance to finalist status, with about half of those earning the title of National Merit Scholar. Finalists will be announced in February 2026.
Semifinalists were selected from a pool of more than 1.3 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools nationwide. Representing less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors, these students achieved the highest scores in the state. To qualify as finalists, semifinalists must submit a comprehensive scholarship application highlighting their academic record, leadership experience, participation in school and community activities, employment, and honors and awards received. In addition, students must earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm their qualifying test performance.
Five SISD students also have been designated as Commended Students: Heidi Antony, Ashwini Aryangat, Jonathan Joy, Julia Mathews and Avery Mollett. Students who are commended score in the top 3% to 4% of all PSAT/NMSQT test takers, about 34,000 students out of the 1.3 million entrants.