More than 16,000 semifinalists have been named for the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program, including a number of seniors at Walton and Wheeler high schools in East Cobb. 
They are competing for 6,930 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million that will be offered next spring by NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that provides financial assistance to college-bound students.
Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and another 300 business organizations, higher education institutions, and individual donors.
The process for the 2025-26 school year began earlier this year, with more than 1.3 million juniors applying. A semifinalist, according to the NMSC, “must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school offi cial, write an essay, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.”
Finalists will be announced in February 2026, and “Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference.”
LASSITER H. S.
- Lucy Conway; Carter Kopp; Riley Sullivan; Alina Zhu
POPE H. S.
- Kenneth Kim; Ishaan Marwaha; Ekansh Singh; Nyla Yarbrough
WALTON H. S.
- Aayushmann Bhattacharyya; Anna Isabelle Cerqueira Perman; Li-Yen Chou; Sean Dalton; Thomas Ellison Cole Jamison; Maxim Le-Tu; Jung Woo Lee; Jacob Lembeck; Aditya Manabala; Aashrith Muppalla; Benjamin Norman; Dev Patel; Christina Philip; Shinjon Rafique; Jeremiah Raj; Ameen Sayeed; Aubrey Seay; Anika Thatte; Vishruthi Thiyagarajan; Logan Wicks; Alena S. Wolfe-Tham; Jerry Xu; Anna Yang
WHEELER H. S.
- Samuel Grouchnikov; Maddic Jordan; Thilo Kalbarga; Nathan Lawson; John Leith; Madelyn McGurk; Krish Patel; Ananya Rajagopalan; Ritvik Ranjan; Mythili Shah; Vidya Sinha; Ezekiel Skeene; Jacob Thottungal; Dillan Vuong
Related:
- Lawmaker files Title IX athletics complaint against Pope HS
- Dodgen MS chamber orchestra to perform at The Midwest Clinic
- Cobb school district sells former Eastvalley ES properties
- Cobb schools: ‘No plan’ to revive events center at Marietta site
- News site to record public comment stream ended by Cobb school board
- Former Cobb schools special events site proposed for parking area
- Cobb’s 2025 Teacher of the Year celebrated at Pope HS
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up and you’re good to go!
