Thirty-five students in the Great Neck Public Schools have been announced as Semifinalists in the prestigious 2026 National Merit Scholarship Competition (NMSC).

Semifinalists attending John L. Miller-Great Neck North High School are: Jessica Cao, Jinkuan Chen, Serena Chen, Aiden Jin, Daniel Kardos, Ethan Lam, Sophia Li, Alex Lu, Michael Lyakhov, Tomi Shamash, Kian Soleymani, and Harrison Yu.

Semifinalists attending William A. Shine-Great Neck South High School are: Dalia Castilho, Ryan Cheung, Khloe Chong, Sydney Dong, Olivia Gu, Elaine He, Aidan Hong, Enoch Huang, Sarah Joseph, Marcus Lee, Madeleine Lennox, Aaron Liu, Xiao Ma, Lana Miao, Xingchen Ming, Addie Suggs, Victoria Wang, Jonathan Wu, Chloe Yim, Cynthia Zhang, Raymond Zhang, Emily Zhao, and Tristan Zhuo.

These Semifinalists are among 16,000 nationwide, having scored among the highest in New York State on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which they took last year. Semifinalists, who represent less than one percent of seniors in the country, will be identified to colleges and universities in order to increase their educational opportunities.

Semifinalists are invited to complete a detailed scholarship application and provide academic and leadership credentials to be considered as a Finalist in the competition. Approximately 95 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing in February 2026. Merit Scholarship Winners will be chosen from among the Finalists to receive one or more Merit Scholarship Awards.