Twenty-three Langley High School seniors earned National Merit Semifinalist honors in September, placing the McLean school second among Fairfax County Public Schools in the nationwide competition.

Another 65 Langley students were named Commended Students, the school announced. The commended scholars gathered in Langley Hall on Thursday, Oct. 1, for a commemorative group photo.

Across the district, 167 FCPS seniors from 16 high schools earned semifinalist status, according to a Sept. 15 FCPS announcement. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology led with 69. Langley's 23 ranked second, and nearby McLean High School added 17 semifinalists of its own.

The numbers matter locally. Combined, the two McLean-area high schools account for 40 of the district's 167 semifinalists.

Nationwide, more than 16,000 seniors were named semifinalists out of roughly 1.2 million juniors who took the 2025 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). The pool represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors.

FCPS Superintendent Dr. Michelle C. Reid praised the students in the district's announcement, saying their success reflects hard work, committed educators and supportive families. She said the students "continue to show us what is possible."

Langley's 23 semifinalists are Arianne Almeida, Lam Dinh, Abhinav Eadhara, Jaina Fitzpatrick, Bennett Huang, Madeline Jacobs, Daniel Jeon, Sabrina Kim, Luke Kwon, Jonathan Langdo, Inger Logan, Ann Mecherikunnel, Mia Nash, Elakshi Nedungottil, Tyler Nguyen, Sungyeon Park, Alexander Rozsa, Lillian Su, Shveta Sunkar, Yilin Wang, Felix Xu, Eric Zeng and Zifan Zhao.

McLean High's 17 semifinalists are Daniel Anglin, Rebecca Chen, Samuel Cosentino, Margaret Farrell, Chloe Giglio, Vasundhara Jagadeesan, Sarah Li, Aaron Lin, Angela Luo, Lucas Mao, Sean Noh, Allegra O'Grady, Caroline Su, Yunhan Tong, Natalie Wang, Muyang Zhang and Lexin Zhu.

The 65 Commended Students were recognized for strong performance on the 2025 PSAT/NMSQT, according to the school. Langley said it is proud of the students' academic achievement and dedication.

Semifinalists can advance to finalist standing by meeting additional academic requirements, including a recommendation from a high school official. Three types of scholarship awards will be offered in spring 2027: National Merit $2,500 scholarships, corporate-sponsored scholarships and college-sponsored scholarships.

All Langley 10th and 11th graders took the PSAT/NMSQT on Wednesday, Oct. 7, as part of the school's annual PSAT/SAT School Day, starting the qualifying cycle for next year's competition.