On Tuesday, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced the names of more than 16,000 high school seniors who have been named Semifinalists in the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program. Among these academically exceptional students are 145 students from Mississippi, who now have the opportunity to compete for over 6,800 National Merit Scholarships, collectively worth nearly $26 million, to be awarded in the spring of 2025.

To achieve Semifinalist status, students had to score among the top one percent of high school juniors nationwide on the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®). The number of Semifinalists from each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of U.S. graduating seniors, making this an outstanding academic achievement for the Mississippi students honored.

Semifinalists will now compete to advance to the Finalist level by submitting a detailed application, which includes information on academic performance, school and community activities, leadership abilities, and SAT or ACT scores that confirm their qualifying test performance. Approximately 95% of Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and about half of these Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the title of Merit Scholar®.

The National Merit Scholarship Program, established in 1955, honors students for their academic abilities and potential for future success. Scholarships are funded by NMSC and various businesses, higher education institutions, and individual donors who share the goal of encouraging academic excellence.

Below is the list of Mississippi students who have been named Semifinalists in this prestigious competition:

BATESVILLE
SOUTH PANOLA H. S.

• Cossey, Meredith

BAY ST. LOUIS
ST. STANISLAUS COLLEGE

• Favre, Samuel
• Kompella, Satvik
• Williams, Davis

BILOXI
BILOXI H. S.

• Mueller, Thomas

BRANDON
BRANDON H. S.

• Patrick, Kristopher D.

CLINTON
CLINTON H. S.

• Fortenberry, Grayson L.
• McCleese, Owen T.

COLUMBUS
MISSISSIPPI SCHOOL FOR MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE

• Byrd, Aden
• Candland, Rebecca
• Chen, Andy
• Choi, Yaerim
• Deano, Joseph
• Dowdy, Andrew
• Givens, Isabella
• Harrison, Henry
• Lai, Theodore
• Lin, Anderson
• Smith, Langston
• Wu, Ryan
• Zmitrovich, Aaron

CORINTH
CORINTH H. S.

• Murphree, Wyatt W.

FLOWOOD
NORTHWEST RANKIN H. S.

• Davidson, Kayla M.
• Kassahun, Samson W.
• Murphy, Judah C.
• Young, Samantha M.

FULTON
ITAWAMBA COUNTY AGRICULTURAL H. S.

• Johnson, Reese C.

GULFPORT
GULFPORT H. S.

• Bruni, Cooper
• Clay, Carter
• Joffrion, Marcus
• Napier, Lauren
• Pearce, Jackson
• Wheeler, Elizabeth
• Williams, Journey

HARRISON CENTRAL H. S.

• Craven, Konner

WEST HARRISON H. S.

• Bee, Joshua A.

HATTIESBURG
HOMESCHOOL / ONLINE SCHOOL

• Bowling, Jonathan M.

OAK GROVE H. S.

• Bai, David S.
• Bao, Bill
• Li, Aiyana
• Nguyen, Kelvin K.
• Sandifer, Kiera B.
• Stott, Malcolm D.
• Xie, Tingrui M.

HERNANDO
HERNANDO H. S.

• Arnold, Madison
• Hendricks, Sofia
• Lowther, Joseph
• Trigg, Nicholas
• Whitehead, Riley

JACKSON
JACKSON PREPARATORY SCHOOL

• Dean, Dylan P.
• Denson, Brantley C.
• Jordan, Henry R.
• Katsaboulas, Nichols
• Landry, Allie L.
• Morgan, William
• Tidwell, Lydia
• Wilkinson, John N.

MURRAH H. S.

• Rhodes, Kristen C.

KILN
HANCOCK H. S.

• Pagano, Nicholas P.

LONG BEACH
LONG BEACH H. S.

• Lefort, Grace J.
• Mares, Justin A.
• Pingul, Aubrey K.

MABEN
EAST WEBSTER H. S.

• Gordon, Nathan T.

MADISON
GERMANTOWN H. S.

• Addison, Austin
• Estess, Clark
• Foxx, Cody
• Green, George
• Kinney, Alexander
• Obaji, Amer
• Quillin, Rajendra

MADISON CENTRAL H. S.

• Boyd, Adrian
• Burke, Carrington
• Copeland, Samuel
• Henning, Marcus
• Hudson, Gabriel
• Jia, Emily
• Martin, Eva
• Ngai, Gordon
• Nicholson, Evan
• Parmley, James
• Pierce, Eli
• Rhoden, Luke
• Richardson, Cade
• Thomas, Dylan
• Waters, Thomas
• Yu, Austin

MERIDIAN
CLARKDALE H. S.

• Anderson, Jeffery H.

LAMAR SCHOOL

• Lagendyk, Connor

NATCHEZ
CATHEDRAL H. S.

• Starr, Joseph

OCEAN SPRINGS
OCEAN SPRINGS H. S.

• Dill, Lilah K.
• Philippoff, Julia A.
• Smith, Charles A.
• Womble, Jovi C.

OLIVE BRANCH
CENTER HILL H. S.

• Dorian, Amanda
• Hill, Addison
• Kinggard, Mia
• Montgomery, Noah

LEWISBURG H. S.

• Butler, Sarah
• Carrera, Xochitl
• Cross, Reba
• Gaschk, Henry
• Ha, Anh
• Oswalt, Lauren
• Smith, Aiden

OLIVE BRANCH H. S.

• Dina, Allie
• McDurmon, Ethan
• Mercer, Eva

OXFORD
HOMESCHOOL

• Green, Hadley

LAFAYETTE H. S.

• Noble, Daisy R.
• Phillips, Andrew M.

OXFORD H. S.

• Bigham, Ann H.
• Bruce, Elliot
• Oommen, Hannah

PASS CHRISTIAN
PASS CHRISTIAN H. S.

• Cumbaa, Anthony J.
• Matthews, Mary M.

PEARL
PEARL H. S.

• Adams, John A.

PELAHATCHIE
EAST RANKIN ACADEMY

• Hawk, Audrey R.

PONTOTOC
SOUTH PONTOTOC H. S.

• Stegall, Mack

RIDGELAND
RIDGELAND H. S.

• Parr, James T.

ST. ANDREW’S EPISCOPAL SCHOOL

• Anand, Vahita R.
• Bhagat, Verena C.
• Burrow, Richard H.
• Cochran, Kathryn
• Coffey, Liam F.
• Gauthier, Arthur C.
• Hamilton, Allyson B.
• Huang, Sophia
• Lane, Celia E.
• Maron, Claudia R.
• Purvis, John L.
• Reddy, Pranav
• Romero, Patricia M.
• Young, Connor C.

ST. AUGUSTINE SCHOOL

• Dukes, Micah
• Forster, Eason
• Welch, Maggie

SALTILLO
SALTILLO H. S.

• Ikemori, Keira A.

SOUTHAVEN
DE SOTO CENTRAL H. S.

• Brewer, Tristan
• Crawford, Cari
• Duarte, Juan
• Gomez, William
• Griffin, Cameron
• Jones, Mason
• Lane, Emma
• Lett Zapata, Joaquin
• Long, Jaxon
• McAnally, William
• Phan, David

NORTHPOINT CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

• Dye, Bryan
• Floyd, Tagg

STARKVILLE
STARKVILLE H. S.

• Spradling, Emma C.

TAYLORSVILLE
TAYLORSVILLE H. S.

• Gunter, Chloe B.

TUPELO
TUPELO H. S.

• Keen, Andrew R.
• Williamson, Charles L.

VICKSBURG
ST. ALOYSIUS H. S.

• Edwards, Samantha L.