Fourteen MBA seniors earn National Merit Semifinalist status

Montgomery Bell Academy is proud to announce and congratulate fourteen seniors who have been named Semifinalists in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Competition. These academically talented students were among more than 1.3 million juniors from approximately 20,000 high schools nationwide who entered the program by taking the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Of that group, about 16,000 were recognized as Semifinalists—representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors.

MBA’s 2026 Semifinalists are: Alex Abramson, Piers Barnard, J.D. Bashian, Jackson Hebert, Russell Howard, Oliver Johnston, Beck Metcalf, Nikhil Misra, Porter Ragle, Nico Recchia, Jack Rogers, Res Seibels, Ethan Sides, and Ian Zwerner.

To achieve Finalist status, students must maintain an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a school official, write an essay, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm their qualifying test performance. More than 15,000 Semifinalists are expected to advance to Finalist standing in February, with National Merit Scholarship winners selected from among that group.