Thirteen seniors at Newbury Park High School and Westlake High School qualified as semifinalists in the 2027 National Merit Scholarship Program, landing among less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors who took the qualifying exam.

The Conejo Valley Unified School District announced the honorees on Wednesday, Sept. 9. Six students attend Newbury Park High and seven attend Westlake High.

Thousand Oaks High had no semifinalists on the 2027 list.

The Newbury Park High semifinalists are Adithi A., Arth D., Nathaniel B., Riley S., Rishabh K. and Samir W.

The Westlake High semifinalists are Aslan G., Breanna B., Christopher L., Eric Z., Flora Y., Kevin F. and Michelle Q.

The district published only last initials. The Daily News' LA County semifinalist roster confirmed full names for six of the Westlake students: Breanna Bieler, Kevin Fei, Christopher Lee, Michelle Qi, Flora Yuan and Eric Zhang.

How the program works

More than 1.2 million juniors at about 20,000 high schools entered the 72nd annual competition by taking the 2025 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). The more than 16,000 semifinalists represent the highest-scoring entrants in each state, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC).

The 13 local students now compete for about 6,700 scholarships worth a combined $24 million, according to the district's announcement. About 95% of semifinalists are expected to advance to finalist standing. Roughly half of finalists will win a scholarship.

To advance, semifinalists must submit a detailed application endorsed by a high school official. The application covers academic records, community involvement, leadership, an essay and SAT or ACT scores, according to the Daily News.

What's next

Finalists will be notified in February 2027, and scholarship winners will be announced on a rolling basis from April through July 2027, the Daily News reported. Awards include $2,500 merit scholarships, corporate-sponsored awards and college-sponsored awards for finalists who enroll at a sponsoring institution.

CVUSD's College & Career Information Night for all district high school students and families is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 12, from 4:30 p.m. to 7:50 p.m. at Newbury Park High School.