Two Newton Country Day School seniors placed among the top 1% of PSAT test-takers nationwide, earning Semifinalist status in the National Merit Scholarship Program.

The school announced Sept. 23 that Caitlin Cunjak and Anna Goodman were named Semifinalists, selected from more than 1.2 million juniors who took the 2025 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Roughly 16,000 students across the country earned the designation.

Three classmates were named Commended Scholars: Anastasia Horgan, Johanna Jané-Leonardis and Regan Montague. They are among 34,000 students nationally recognized for their PSAT performance.

All five are members of the Class of 2027 at the Centre Street school.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation, a nonprofit that has run the program since 1955, released its 2027 semifinalist list Sept. 9. This is the 72nd year of the competition, according to the Los Angeles Daily News, which published details of the national announcement.

What comes next

Cunjak and Goodman now face a detailed application process to advance from Semifinalist to Finalist. Each student and a school official must submit academic records, a list of activities and leadership roles, a personal essay and a confirming SAT or ACT score. Nationally, about 95% of Semifinalists earn Finalist status. Finalists will be notified in February 2027.

About 6,700 National Merit Scholarships worth a combined $24 million will be awarded in 2027. Winners will be announced in rounds from April through July 2027.

Horgan, Jané-Leonardis and Montague, as Commended Scholars, do not advance in the Merit competition but may qualify for special scholarships offered by some corporate and college sponsors.

Finalist notifications for Cunjak and Goodman are expected in February.