Six Wichita East High School seniors earned spots among the more than 16,000 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists announced Sept. 9, the most of any public school in the Wichita area.

Elijah Corpus, Logan Costa, Krishanu Demovic Ahmed, Eli Fox, Simon Hungria and Ashwatth Jagadeesh were among nearly 150 Kansas students named semifinalists, according to KMUW. They qualified by scoring in the top 1% of the 1.2 million juniors who took the 2025 PSAT/NMSQT, according to the Andover school district.

Students from at least 14 Wichita-area high schools made the list in the National Merit Scholarship Corporation's (NMSC) 72nd annual competition.

Andover Central High School seniors Evan Dalton and Madeleine Kaufmann also earned the distinction. The Andover school district confirmed both scored in the top 1% nationally.

Maize USD 266 placed three semifinalists across two schools: Josiah F. Johnson at Maize High and Meenakshi P. Ghosh and Paige M. Kelly at Maize South.

Wichita Heights named one semifinalist, Adrian Le. Wichita Northwest had two: Jarrett Bootsma and Phillip Bowers.

Beyond the public districts, Wichita Collegiate School recognized three semifinalists at a Wednesday assembly: Charlie Basinger, Joshua Lee and Jackson Rukes. The school also honored senior Ben Shackelford as a National Merit Commended Scholar, a separate recognition shared by about 150 other Kansas students, according to a school announcement.

Chris Ashbrook, head of upper school at Wichita Collegiate, told students at the Sept. 9 assembly that the honor "didn't come without a great deal of discipline and effort."

Bishop Carroll Catholic High School placed Emily S. Foster and Claire T. Stockemer. Goddard High had three semifinalists: Kevin B. Kiralyfalvi, Abigael Ochweri and Aydan T. Pham.

Semifinalists now face an additional round. They must submit an application through a school official covering their academic record, extracurricular activities and leadership. They also must write an essay and submit a confirming SAT or ACT score. About 95% of semifinalists advance to finalist status, according to the NMSC. Roughly half of those finalists win a scholarship worth about $2,500.

The corporation will announce winners between April and July 2027. In all, it plans to award about 6,700 scholarships totaling roughly $24 million.