Seniors Ellie Kim, Sofija Khan, Jacob Kawako and Yonathan Endashaw have been named National Merit Semifinalists for 2025. Students who are recognized as semifinalists scored in the top percentiles of the PSAT taken in their junior year. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation reported that approximately 16,000 students were named as semifinalists. That is equivalent to less than one percent of all high schoolers in America. 

The PSAT is taken annually from eighth grade through junior year. It serves as practice for the actual SAT and helps students set a target score to work towards. Students can access practice tests and have the opportunity to sign up for SAT prep programs. Kim opted for a less stressful approach and focused more on physical preparation rather than academic. 

“I don’t think I did much studying. I think the day of the test I slept and ate a good breakfast,” Kim said. 

Khan also kept her preparation light in the hopes of reducing any stress she may have had before taking the test.

“I remember doing a practice test on Khan Academy the night before, and maybe a little bit over the week before the test. But otherwise, I was just kind of like, I didn’t want to stress myself out,” Khan said.

All four semifinalists hoped for a good score after taking the exam, but did not spend too much time thinking about it. The names of the semifinalists were released in mid-September, and they were notified of the recognition by their counselors. Khan found out before her counselor had the chance to tell her. 

“I was at a math team contest in Wheaton North. My friend and I opened our scores. I turned my score to her before I looked. I said, ‘What’d I get?’ And then she was in shock at my score,” Khan said.

About half of the semifinalists will go on to receive scholarship awards. According to NMSC, “Some 6,930 National Merit Scholarships of three types and approximately 660 Special Scholarships will be awarded in 2027; these 7,590 awards will have a combined value of over $33 million.” Students can use this scholarship money for their future educational plans. 

Kawako plans to pursue studies in a variety of areas of mathematics.

“I am majoring in pure math. My current research is in type theory. I plan on studying category theory when I go into college,” Kawako said.

Endashaw also hopes to enter a STEM-related field and already has a few universities in mind.

“I think I want to study mechanical engineering and maybe go into aerospace. I am thinking about universities like Urbana because it is really nearby and also schools out of state like Georgia Tech,” Endashaw said.