27 APS Seniors Named National Merit Semifinalists

Posted September 17, 2026, 11:15 AM. Updated September 17, 2026, 2:02 PM.

Designation recognizes nation's top academic performers.

Twenty-seven Albuquerque Public Schools high school seniors have been named semifinalists in the 2027 National Merit Scholarship Program.

The designation goes to the students who received the highest scores on the 2025 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Fewer than one percent of U.S. high school seniors qualify as semifinalists.

La Cueva High has 17 semifinalists, more than any other high school in the state.

More than 1.2 million juniors in about 20,000 high schools took the PSAT in 2025. Of those, about 16,000 were named semifinalists and are eligible to compete for nearly $26 million in National Merit Scholarships.

The 2027 APS Semifinalists

Albuquerque High School

Alessandro Hartman
Caroline Zeek

College & Career High School

Parker C. Kay

Early College Academy

Lucia Swan

Eldorado High School

Anna Shulenburger
Connor Van Note
Ronny Yassin

La Cueva High School

Joanna Chang
Elsa Dhonau-Egan
Safia Elmazi
Aditi Ganti
Elise Hays
Grace Hsieh
Ethan Jones
Euiryeon Kim
Paul Kotze
Sapphire Landaker
Sarah Morgan
Saina Nyalakanti
Joaquin Rodriguez
James Si
Dylan Thiel-Hadjilambrinos
Clara Wei
Norah Yang

Sandia High School

Alexander Hibbs
Allen Penick

Volcano Vista High School

Aaron M. Pankretz