Full list of NJ National Merit $2,500 scholarship winners

New Jersey students are among 2,500 recipients nationwide of $2,500 National Merit Scholarships, one of the nation’s most prestigious academic honors for high school students.

The National Merit Scholarship Corp. announced the winners on May 13, selecting students from more than 15,000 finalists based on their academic achievements, standardized test scores, leadership and potential for success in college.

Several Central Jersey students are among the winners, including winners from Bridgewater, Edison, Hillsborough and South Brunswick.

The unique scholarships can be used at any accredited US college or university.

Below is the complete list of New Jersey’s 2026 $2,500 National Merit Scholarship winners, including their high schools.

2026 NJ National Merit Winners

• Ryan Patrick McCarthy — Northern Highlands Regional HS (Allendale)

• Elizabeth Chiles — Trinity Hall (Tinton Falls)

• Katherine Jung — Pingry School (Basking Ridge)

• Hsien Xin Peng — Ridge HS (Basking Ridge)

• Maheera Haque — Academy of Paramedical Sciences (Scotch Plains)

• Dheirya Tyagi — Bernards HS (Bernardsville)

• Linda A. Nichvoloda — Morris Hills HS (Rockaway)

• Gajendra Joshi — Bridgewater-Raritan Regional HS (Bridgewater)

• Ananth S. Raman — Bridgewater-Raritan Regional HS (Bridgewater)

• Aarushi D. Senjalia — Bridgewater-Raritan Regional HS (Bridgewater)

• Ronak M. Pathak — Cherry Hill HS East (Cherry Hill)

• Pihu Batra — Northern Burlington County (Columbus) Regional HS

• Christina Hur — Academy of the Holy Angels (Demarest)

• Matthew D. Kang — Regis HS (New York, NY)

• Survani Sinha — South Brunswick HS (Monmouth Junction)

• Kriti Agrawal — John P. Stevens HS (Edison)

• Ishaan Anand — Woodbridge Academy Magnet School (Woodbridge)

• Dhruhi Y. Patel — John P. Stevens HS (Edison)

• Riya Patel — Woodbridge Academy Magnet School (Woodbridge)

• Sarahsihu Kim — Academy of the Holy Angels (Demarest)

• Alexander Kovalenko — Bergen County Academies (Hackensack)

• William A. Brisson — Pingry School (Basking Ridge)

• Max C. Koppelman — Dwight-Englewood School (Englewood)

• Thomas B. Dinh — Robbinsville HS (Robbinsville)

• Sophia Kim — Bergen County Academies (Hackensack)

• Tevin Zhou — Peddie School (Hightstown)

• Cynthia Lei — Hillsborough HS (Hillsborough)

• Sophia Gao — HS high technology (Lincroft)

• Rémi Graullera — Trinity School (New York, NY)

• Tian Hu — McNair Academic HS (Jersey City)

• Chloé Koo — McNair Academic HS (Jersey City)

• Neil Mehra — McNair Academic HS (Jersey City)

• Zakary A. Kessler — Kinnelon HS (Kinnelon)

• Nathaniel S. Marks—Regis HS (New York, NY)

• Sasha Rose Perskie — Red Bank Regional HS (Little Silver)

• Kayla K. Fang — Livingston HS (Livingston)

• Saanvi Kulkarni — Livingston HS (Livingston)

• Tvisha Reikhy — Livingston HS (Livingston)

• Saanvi Sri-Sai Gudapati — Peddie School (Hightstown)

• Leela Kumar—Howell HS (Farmingdale)

• Charlotte E. Lindsey — West Morris Mendham HS (Mendham)

• Olivia Yurkus — Middletown HS South (Middletown)

• Sarayu Vallurupalli — Edison Academy Magnet School (Edison)

• Mila Huang — Montclair Kimberley Academy (Montclair)

• Danica Stout — Montclair HS (Montclair)

• Ali Sabir — Moorestown Friends School (Moorestown)

• Neeka M. Vojdani — Moorestown HS (Moorestown)

• Niyel Hassan — HS high technology (Lincroft)

• Zoe E. Lai — Marlboro HS (Marlboro)

• Jessica Yao — Lenape HS (Medford)

• Cristina Fuschetto — Bergen County Technical HS (Teterboro)

• Aiden Hong — Bergen County Academies (Hackensack)

• Michael Middlezong — Bergen County Academies (Hackensack)

• Nicolas Underwood — Park Ridge HS (Park Ridge)

• Sawyer Berness—George School (Newtown, Pennsylvania)

• Sahana J. Karthik — Princeton Day School (Princeton)

• Darby Ko — HS Windsor-Plainsboro South West (Princeton Junction)

• Evan Messina — St. Andrew School (Middletown, DE)

• Qiuen Yu — Lawrenceville School (Lawrenceville)

• Branden C. Zhou — Princeton HS (Princeton)

• Emily Park — Ridgewood HS (Ridgewood)

• Aarush Mane — Robbinsville HS (Robbinsville)

• Reagan Haley — Rumson-Fair Haven Regional HS (Rumson)

• Ishaan Modi — Millburn HS (Millburn)

• Raymond J. Xu — Delbarton School (Morristown)

• Jungmin Allison Kim — HS Summit (Summit)

• Afua Anyadike — Bergen County Academies (Hackensack)

• Edward S. Lee — Bergen (Hackensack) County Academies

• Chang Yoon Kim — Tenafly HS (Tenafly)

• Karen Cao — Washington Township HS (Sewell)

• Andrew Cao — Academy of Information Technology (Scotch Plains)

• Tate Kim — Bergen County Academies (Hackensack)

• Tingting T. Luo — Pingry School (Basking Ridge)

• Shaunak Soni — Wayne Hills HS (Wayne)

• Mila Varela — St. Dominic Academy (Jersey City)

• Angela Liu — Whippany Park HS (Whippany)

• Bronwyn L. Downey — Whitehouse Station

Fewer than 1 percent of U.S. high school students reach the National Merit semifinalist stage, and about 6,700 students nationwide ultimately earned scholarships this year.

Additional college-sponsored winners will be announced in June and July.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: 2026 NJ National Merit Winners: Student Names and Schools