Receiving an invitation for an Academic Achievement ceremony with little context of what to expect, 52 seniors filled the field house along with their families on Wednesday, Sept. 11 to find out that they were named National Merit Semifinalists. 

Seniors were granted the title of Semifinalist based on their Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) Index Score — which ranges from 48-228 — taken during their junior year. With over 1.3 million students nationwide being considered for this program, only 1% of all students were named Semifinalists — equating to 16,000 students nationwide. With 52 Semifinalists, Westwood had more Semifinalists than any other school in Texas. Adding on to this feat, Westwood named more Semifinalists than eight entire states. 

“[Being named as a Semifinalist] felt unreal,” Riya Chauhan ’25 said. “I am a student athlete, so it was hard balancing practice and IB, which made me feel extremely lucky to do well on the PSAT.”

The ceremony consisted of a light breakfast, speeches by Principal Erin Campbell and Head Counselor Holly Browning, and an opportunity to get individual and group pictures. A prevalent theme that Ms. Campbell and Ms. Holly Browning emphasized throughout the ceremony was how students can get caught up in the “Westwood Bubble,” often not comprehending the extent of their achievements or hard work. 

“At Westwood, I always feel like I’m underperforming,” Chauhan said. “But when everything was put into perspective this ceremony, it made me realize that I am one in 16,000 in the whole country.”

The process has only begun for these 52 students. The Semifinalists will undergo a series of application steps, including essays and recommendation letters, which will determine their potential status as National Merit Scholars. 

Below is the full list of National Merit Semifinalists: 

Arora, Krish D.

Balakrishnan, Pranav

Bandi, Aryan A.

Birmiwal, Shrey

Changwatchai, Prima

Chauhan, Riya R.

Chawla, Satvik

Gaffney, Jody E.

Garcia, Milo R.

Gong, Isabel

Harith, Mahathi S.

Hsu, Elizabeth S.

Huang, Zackery Y.

Huh, Grace J.

Iley, Landon E.

Iyer, Sanjana A.

Jovanovic, Nina

Kasap, Murat Can

Kashyap, Naithruv R.

Kim, Minsung

Kolluru, Indivara

Kondubhatla, Shivani L.

Krishnan, Sneha P.

Kumar, Aayush K.

Kunnan, Abraham Wilson

Lagudu, Sahasra

Liu, Harry Z.

Liu, Yuqing

Luo, Marlene

Matous, Ramzi M.

Meeniga, Riti

Panda, Hrithikesh

Paturi, Gauri T.

Pham, Vince Q.

Rajesh, Adarsh

Reddy, Akaash P.

Reddy, Tanvi C.

Reddy, Vinay G.

Sammer, Thor T.

Sen, Arihant

Shao, Natalie

Sheykhnazari, Arvin

Shi, Isabella T.

Shouba, Jackson L.

Srikanth, Shruthi

Stenglein, Zachary J.

Tutuc, Paul C.

Veal, Andrew T.

Venkataraman, Anish

Xu, Kevin Z.

Zhang, Yujie B.

Zhao, Eileen