Aaron Prager: Semifinalist, 2027 National Merit Scholarship Program
Named one of the more than 16,000 Semifinalists nationwide in the 72nd annual National Merit Scholarship Program, fewer than 1% of U.S. high school seniors.
National Merit Scholarship Corporation
Massachusetts
Official announcements
Verify this award directly with National Merit Scholarship Corporation.
- Massachusetts Semifinalists, 2027 National Merit Scholarship Program (PDF, Aaron listed on page 3)/news/national-merit-2027-ma-semifinalists.pdf
- Semifinalists in the 2027 National Merit Scholarship Program (national press release)www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/27_meritsemi.pdf
- How the National Merit Scholarship Program workswww.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/interior.aspx?sid=1758&gid=2&pgid=424
The National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic competition run by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, a nonprofit founded in 1955. Students enter by taking the PSAT/NMSQT in their junior year. Over 1.2 million juniors in about 20,000 high schools entered the 2027 program by taking the 2025 PSAT/NMSQT, and more than 16,000 of them were named Semifinalists.
The Semifinalist pool is made up of the highest-scoring entrants in each state, and the number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to its share of the country’s graduating seniors. So a student competes against the other juniors in their own state, and Massachusetts consistently has one of the highest qualifying scores in the country.
Aaron entered by taking the 2025 PSAT/NMSQT as a junior at the British International School of Boston. On September 9, 2026, NMSC announced the Semifinalists in the 72nd annual program, the 2027 program for students graduating in 2027. Aaron is on the Massachusetts list, on page 3 of the press packet linked above.
Semifinalists go on to compete for Finalist standing. That requires a detailed scholarship application, an essay, a recommendation from the school, a strong academic record, and an SAT or ACT score that confirms the PSAT/NMSQT performance. Of the more than 16,000 Semifinalists, more than 15,000 are expected to advance to Finalist, and they are notified in February 2027. Finalists then compete for about 6,700 National Merit Scholarships worth approximately $24 million, announced in four releases from April to July 2027.
This one has nothing to do with BoostT1D. It is a straight academic result, earned in a single sitting of a timed test, and it sits alongside his IB Higher Level 7s in Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry.