The National Merit Scholarship Program has recognized two Mercersburg Academy students as semifinalists and 10 as commended students for their performance on the 2025 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). 

Mercersburg’s semifinalists are Ethan Hu ’27 of Cambridge, MA, and Ellie Yang ’27 of Houston, TX.

Mercersburg’s commended students are Madeline Chu ’27 of Hoboken, NJ; Sofiia Harkava ’27 of Kamianske, Ukraine; Ian Kim ’27 of Seoul, South Korea; Richard Mai ’27 of Taipei, Taiwan; Phuong Vo ’27 of San Jose, CA; Siyuan Wan ’27 of Bellevue, WA; Amy Wang ’27 of Macquarie Park, Australia; Eric Wang ’27 of Allen, TX; Carrie Yang ’27 of Houston, TX; and Preston Zhang ’27 of North Potomac, MD. 

In total, 1.2 million students took the qualifying test last year, and out of that number, 16,000 scored high enough to qualify as semifinalists and 34,000 scored high enough to earn commendation.

“We are incredibly proud of the 12 students being recognized this year for outstanding performance on the PSAT,” says Jennifer Miller Smith P ’23, ’24, dean of academic affairs and strategy. “This is a significant accomplishment in a highly competitive region.”

The semifinalists have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 6,700 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $24 million that will be offered next spring. About 95 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and about half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title. 

While commended students will not continue in the 2027 competition for National Merit Scholarship awards, they are being recognized for academic promise because they placed among the top 50,000 students who took the 2025 PSAT.

Pictured: Mercersburg students who were recognized by the National Merit Scholarship program include, front row: Carrie Yang ’27 of Houston, TX; Madeline Chu ’27 of Hoboken, NJ; Ellie Yang ’27 of Houston, TX; Amy Wang ’27 of Macquarie Park, Australia; and Phuong Vo ’27 of San Jose, CA. Back row: Siyuan Wan ’27 of Bellevue, WA; Preston Zhang ’27 of North Potomac, MD; Eric Wang ’27 of Allen, TX; Richard Mai ’27 of Taipei, Taiwan; Ethan Hu ’27 of Cambridge, MA; and Sofiia Harkava ’27 of Kamianske, Ukraine.

Not pictured: Ian Kim ’27 of Seoul, South Korea