Seventeen Fairfax County Public Schools seniors have now earned college-sponsored National Merit Scholarships for 2026, after the National Merit Scholarship Corporation named nine more FCPS winners on Monday.
The awards are worth $500 to $2,000 per year for up to four years, funded by the colleges themselves. Combined with 31 students who won $2,500 National Merit Scholarships and nine who received corporate-sponsored awards earlier in the year, FCPS's Class of 2026 produced 57 National Merit winners across all three scholarship categories.
The nine new winners
The July group spans five high schools: Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST) with four winners, Oakton High School with two, and Lake Braddock Secondary School, Westfield High School and Marshall High School with one each.
- Ananya Bhatt, TJHSST — Case Western Reserve University
- Shaanvhi Jayaram, TJHSST — Stony Brook University
- Anna Park, TJHSST — University of Southern California
- Kaleb Hickling, TJHSST — University of Florida
- Ronav Akella, Oakton — University of Maryland
- Sihe Liu, Oakton — Virginia Commonwealth University
- Ronald Zhang, Lake Braddock — University of Maryland
- Manojna Kandlagunta, Westfield — Stony Brook University
- Jordan Gee, Marshall — Case Western Reserve University
District-wide picture
The nine join eight FCPS students announced on June 3, who came from Centreville, Langley, McLean, TJHSST, Fairfax and Westfield high schools. FCPS started the 2026 cycle with 262 semifinalists from 19 high schools, up from 191 in 2025. Of those, 244 advanced to finalist status, with TJHSST accounting for 105 finalists.
How the awards work
College-sponsored scholarships go to finalists who listed the sponsoring school as their first choice, applied for admission there, and were not offered another National Merit award. If a winner changes their college choice, the scholarship is canceled. Students were evaluated on academic records, an essay, extracurricular activities, SAT scores and a recommendation from a high school official, according to the NMSC.
The pipeline for Reston families
No South Lakes High School students appeared in either the June or July college-sponsored groups, but the pipeline for future classes begins this fall. The PSAT/NMSQT exam that starts the National Merit process for current 10th and 11th graders will be administered at all FCPS high schools, including South Lakes, on Wednesday, October 7, at no cost to families. Students needing testing accommodations must submit requests to their high school by Monday, August 3.
