2 Frazer School students win National Merit scholarships

Frazer School students Bach H. Ngo (left) and Michael Wie recently won National Merit scholarships.

Courtesy of The Frazer School

Key Points

Two students from The Frazer School in Gainesville have won scholarships through the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC).

Frazer School students Bach Ngo earned the National Merit Walgreen Co. Scholarship and Michael Wie received a National Merit $2,500 Scholarship.

According to a Frazer School press release, more than 1.3 million high school juniors from roughly 20,000 schools across the U.S. entered the 2026 National Merit Scholarship program by taking the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). Out of the 20,000 students, fewer than 1% of high school seniors across the nation earned semifinalist status based on their test scores.

To move from a semifinalist to a finalist, the release said a student and a high school official had to submit a detailed scholarship application highlighting the student’s academic record, leadership abilities, participation in school and community activities, employment and honors received throughout high school. Finalists also needed endorsements and recommendations by a school official, an essay and ACT or SAT scores confirming their qualifying test performance.

Of the more than 16,000 semifinalists nationwide, 15,000 achieved finalist status this year, the release said. All National Merit scholarship winners are chosen from this group of finalists based on “their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies.”

On April 22, the NMSC announced the first group of scholarship winners for the 2026 competition. The release said roughly 700 high school seniors across the nation won corporate-sponsored National Merit scholarship awards funded by 115 corporations, company foundations and other business organizations.

According to the release, Ngo plans to attend the University of Chicago and Wie plans to attend Princeton University in the fall.

According to the release, each National Merit finalist competes for one of the 2,500 National Merit $2,500 scholarships. Winners are selected for having the “strongest combination of academic skills and achievements, extracurricular accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies.”