Four Five Towns students named National Merit Semifinalists

Four standout students from the Five Towns have been recognized for being among the top 1 percent of U.S. seniors, earning semifinalist status in the 2025 National Merit Scholarship program.

Rachel Chen, of Hewlett High School; Sean Harris, of Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway, in Cedarhurst; Ariel Khavulya, of Rambam Mesivta High School, in Lawrence; and Yonatan Schochet, of Davis Renov Stahler Yeshiva High School, in Woodmere, are among more than 16,000 students nationwide to receive the honor.

The program, now in its 70th year, has a several-step process in which students compete to earn $2,500 and the title of Merit Scholar, according to a news release from the National Merit Scholar Corporation.

“NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program,” the release read. “Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 280 business organizations, higher education institutions, and individual donors that share NMSC’s goals of honoring the nation’s scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.”

The first step in the process is earning a high score on the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, known as the PSAT, a practice exam for the nationwide SAT test.

Over a million high school juniors at more than 21,000 high schools take the PSAT, and those with the highest scores are selected as semifinalists on a state-by-state basis, proportional to each state’s percentage of the nation’s total number of graduating seniors.

Chen, whose brother, Brian, was named a semifinalist in 2022, said she was excited to hear that she had been recognized.

“I was really happy about it,” she said. “I kind of already sort of knew that it was coming, because it’s based off of the PSAT score, and I got a 1,520, a perfect PSAT score.”

Chen’s exam preparation included studying print material the summer before it, so the digital format posed a challenge, but it was nothing she wasn’t ready for, she said.

Khavulya, who said he was proud to earn the title of semifinalist, attended HAFTR Middle School before moving up to Rambam, where he has plenty of support for creative opportunities.

“Whenever I have a request to self-study an AP class or to create a battle bots-style robotics club, they’re always open to hear me out,” Khavulya said of the administration’s openness to new and unique ideas.

Harris attributed his success on the PSAT to the resources provided at HAFTR by his college guidance team, which helped him prepare for the exam.

“To me, being a National Merit semifinalist means having a strong academic dedication,” Harris said. “It takes a lot of studying and practice to prepare. It’s extremely rewarding to have received this recognition, and justifies the hard work and dedication I put into my studies.”

Schochet declined to speak with the Herald.

To become a finalist, each student must submit a detailed scholarship application to the NMSC that reflects a strong academic and community-involvement-oriented record, along with an essay, a recommendation by a high school official and a recent SAT or ACT score that is similar to his or her PSAT exam.

Over 15,000 students are expected to be named finalists, in February and from that group, 2,500 will be named National Merit Scholars and receive a $2,500 scholarship.

Chen is hoping to study mechanical engineering in college; Khavulya, physics and computer science; and Harris, computer science and cyber security.

For more information on the National Merit Scholarship Program, go to NationalMerit.org.