Two Teaneck Students Named 2021 National Merit Semifinalists

TEANECK, NJ — Recently, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced the names of close to 16,000 semifinalists for the 66th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

Two seniors from Teaneck now have the opportunity to continue in competition for roughly 7,600 National Merit Scholarships, worth more than $30 million that will be offered next spring, according to a NMSC news release.

The semifinalists are:

• Noa Rubinstein, Ma'ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girl
• Levi J. Langer, Torah Academy of Bergen County

According to a news release, over 90 percent of semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and more than half of the eventual finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship.

Over 1.5 million juniors from roughly 21,000 high schools entered the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program. The remaining semifinalists represent less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors.

Now, those semifinalists will be narrowed down even further during the next steps of the competition.

To become a finalist, the semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application which provides the students academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, awards and honors.

Of the approximately 16,000 semifinalists, about 15,000 are expected to advance to the finalist level, and will be notified of this designation in February.

Scholarship winners will be announced beginning in April, with the last announcement coming in July.