Three Bethlehem Central High School seniors have been named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists as members of the class of 2025. They are among the highest-scoring entrants from New York State recognized as part of the prestigious academic recognition and scholarship program that began in 1955. They now have the opportunity to compete next spring for approximately 6,870 National Merit Scholarships valued at more than $26 million.
The 2025 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists are:
- Armen Amirbekian
- Zara Pattison
- Sophie Wang
Fewer than 1 percent of high school seniors in the United States are named National Merit Semifinalists. Scholarship winners will be announced by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation between April and July 2025.
More than 1.3 million students from more than 21,000 high schools across the country entered the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®) during their junior year. The PSAT serves as an initial screening tool for the scholarship program.
In addition to the 16,000 students nationwide who are honored as Semifinalists, another 34,000 are recognized as Commended Students based on their performance on the PSAT qualifying exam.
The Bethlehem Central High School seniors named as 2025 National Merit Commended Students are:
- Alice Chen
- Ariel Chen
- Nolan Devejian
- Anika Kalam
- Mairead McPhillips
- Clare Megahey
- Aaditya Ojha
- Justin Sherer
- Molly Wladis
- Joy Wu