Four Northgate High School seniors in Walnut Creek have been named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists in the 72nd annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

Sahara Dixit, Rayyan Hermansyah, Russell Mitchell and Derek Zhang qualified for the honor, according to Contra Costa News. Two College Park High School students in Pleasant Hill, Benjamin Green and Oren Greninger, also earned the designation, giving Mount Diablo Unified School District six semifinalists total.

Northgate's four honorees tied with Acalanes High School for the most semifinalists among Walnut Creek-area schools. Las Lomas High School produced two: Coltrane Schaible and Nyana Steinberg.

Across Contra Costa County, 103 seniors from 18 high schools and one homeschool earned the distinction. Dougherty Valley High School in San Ramon led the county with 37. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced the semifinalists Wednesday, Sept. 9, according to the Mercury News.

More than 1.2 million juniors from roughly 20,000 schools nationwide entered the program by taking the 2025 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, known as the PSAT/NMSQT. Semifinalists represent the highest-scoring students in each state.

Contra Costa County Superintendent of Schools Lynn Mackey praised the students and their schools in a Sept. 12 Contra Costa News report. "I am equally proud of the educators and school communities that have helped foster the conditions for this level of success," Mackey said.

About 95 percent of semifinalists historically advance to finalist status, according to the National Merit Scholarship Program. Roughly half of finalists go on to earn the National Merit Scholar title.

The six MDUSD semifinalists now compete for a share of approximately 6,700 scholarships valued at nearly $24 million. Northgate earned a score of 94.46 in the U.S. News & World Report Best High Schools rankings, placing it 28th in the Bay Area.

Scholarship winners will be announced between April and July 2027.