8 Named National Merit Finalists

Eight Fox Chapel Area High School seniors have been designated as National Merit Finalists in the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program: Michael Costello, Riley Hemingray, Alan Jiang, Eloise Johnson, Joanna Li, Gavin Lynch, Rodrigo Silva, and Helen Xu. 

The students were named Semifinalists in September 2025 and have met all the requirements to advance to Finalist standing in the National Merit Scholarship competition. They were selected as Finalists based on their Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) scores and other factors, including SAT and/or ACT scores, a student essay, a school recommendation, and having an outstanding academic record throughout high school. Finalists must also participate in school and community activities, demonstrate leadership abilities, and receive other awards and honors.

Each year, 11th-grade college-bound students take the PSAT/NMSQT. All the students who take this test are automatically enrolled in the National Merit Scholarship Program, and approximately 15,000 advance to become Finalists. The Finalists represent less than 1% of the nation’s high school seniors and compete for more than 6,800 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million, to be offered this spring.