Hamden Student Named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist

HAMDEN, CT — A student from Hamden Hall Country Day School is among the more than 16,000 semifinalists announced this week by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) in its 72nd annual scholarship program.

The semifinalist from Hamden Hall is Ruoxi Zhou.

The student now has an opportunity to compete for about 6,700 National Merit Scholarships worth approximately $24 million that will be awarded next spring. About 95 percent of semifinalists are expected to advance to finalist standing, and roughly half of the finalists are expected to receive a National Merit Scholarship.

More than 1.2 million juniors at about 20,000 high schools entered the competition by taking the 2025 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

Semifinalists represent less than 1 percent of U.S. high school seniors and include the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number selected in each state is proportional to that state's share of the nation's graduating seniors.

To advance, semifinalists and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application containing information about the student's academic record, activities, leadership, employment and honors.

Students must also maintain an outstanding academic record, receive a recommendation from a school official, write an essay and earn SAT or ACT scores confirming their performance on the qualifying test.

Finalists are expected to be notified in February, with National Merit Scholarship winners announced beginning in April.