Eleven Baylor Students Earn National Merit Honors

Congratulations to (front row, left to right) Michelle Yu, Anna Stoddard, Elizabeth Silva, Amelie Johnson, and Rigdon King-Anderson; (back row) Carter Kaylor, William Hubbard, Wesley Chi, Gavin Boggs, Richard Lu, and Pippa Hill.

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Officials of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) have announced that four Baylor seniors have been named semifinalists in the 71^st annual National Merit Scholarship Program and an additional seven students have earned commended honors. 

Rigdon King-Anderson, Richard Lu, Anna Stoddard, and Michelle Yu were among the 16,000 highest scorers nationwide and now have the opportunity to continue in the competition for National Merit Scholarships that will be offered next spring.

Their recognition is based on their performance as juniors on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).  Of the 1.3 million juniors in about 20,000 high schools entered the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants.

In addition, seven seniors have been named NMSC Commended Students, all of whom placed among the top 34,000 scorers throughout the U.S. and were recognized for their exceptional academic promise.  Baylor’s Commended Students are Gavin Boggs, Wesley Chi, William Hubbard, Pippa Hill, Amelie Johnson, Carter Kaylor, and Elizabeth Silva.