43 Trevians were recently named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists after scoring in the top Selection Index scores in Illinois. Every year, high school juniors may take the PSAT, and if they are eligible to compete for the National Merit Scholarship program, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation will use their PSAT score to create a Selection Index score and apply it to each state’s cutoff number.
The Selection Index score takes a student’s PSAT score and multiplies their reading and writing score by two, then adds their math score to the product, and finally divides the sum by 10. Each state has their own cutoff for the selection index score, and in Illinois it was 748 people from the Class of 2026.
These 43 Trevians are a part of the more than 16,000 National Merit semifinalists overall. This year’s number of Trevian semifinalists is nine more than the 2024-2025 school year, and seven more than the 2023-2024 school year.
“43 is a pretty high number and it’s the most we’ve had since 2004,” Director of Curriculum and Instruction Melissa Dudic said.
Along with an average AP score of four and SAT and ACT scores above the state average, New Trier High School’s 43 new National Merit semifinalists are the latest in the school’s academic achievements.
“[New Trier] perform[s] very well academically on so many measures, so it’s not surprising that we would have a large number of students who performed very well on this test and then are honored as National Merit semifinalists,” Dudic said.
Senior Nayana Kundu felt proud to become a National Merit semifinalist.
“[The semifinalists are] a big group at New Trier, but in general, it’s a very select group,” Kundu said. “So I was proud of myself for that, and excited to have this honor and recognition.”
To prepare for standardized tests, Kundu said that she took multiple practice tests and used an SAT book. Kundu also found that the skills she developed while taking classes at New Trier prepared her for standardized tests more so than the actual content.
“The work ethic you develop at New Trier prepares you to be able to take tests and study,” Kundu said.
New Trier’s curriculum is not designed around standardized tests, so students are not learning content in class that specifically relates to a standardized test.
“Our curriculum is very rigorous at all levels, and something that we’re really attentive to is making sure that in all our classes, we’re preparing students with the knowledge and skills of the content of the course as well as engaging them in critical thinking,” Dudic said. “We’re not doing specific preparation for a particular test.”
If semifinalists achieve finalist status and decide that they want to attend a college that offers National Merit scholarships, they then have to put that college as their first choice on the application in order to be considered to receive a scholarship. According to the National Merit corporation, in 2024, U.S. colleges gave National Merit finalists $14 million in scholarships.
“There are a limited number of scholarships given out by National Merit directly, but not many,” Jill Cervantes, the Department Chair of Post High School Counseling said. “So we are here to counsel them and educate them on that piece of it and also help them through the actual National Merit semifinalist application if they so choose.”
Semifinalists will now begin the optional application process to become a National Merit Scholarship finalist. The process requires semifinalists to maintain high grades, be enrolled throughout the rest of high school, take the SAT or ACT and receive scores similar to their PSAT or National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, and write an essay. If a semifinalist completes the entire application process, then, in the winter, they will learn if they will become a National Merit Finalist.