Garland ISD is proud to announce that seven high school seniors earned recognition as National Merit Semifinalists in the 2027 National Merit Scholarship Program.

This distinction places these students among the highest-scoring participants in the country, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors.

Congratulations to the following honored students:

• Garland High School: Cooper M., Chloe S., Shourya V.
• North Garland High School: Bemnet A., Jadyn J., Shiv P.
• Rowlett High School: Viet N.

More than 1.3 million juniors across 20,000 high schools entered the competition by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®).

These academically talented seniors now have the opportunity to continue competing for roughly 6,700 National Merit Scholarships worth approximately $24 million.

To advance to the Finalist level, Semifinalists must maintain an outstanding academic record, write a personal essay, and earn confirming SAT® or ACT® scores.

School officials also submit detailed applications highlighting each candidate's leadership, community involvement, and extracurricular achievements.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation will notify students of their Finalist designation in February 2027.

Roughly 95 percent of Semifinalists are expected to reach the Finalist level, and official scholarship winners will be announced in stages from April through July 2027.

For more information about PSAT/NMSQT and SAT in Garland ISD, please visit the Academics & CCMR webpage.