Three Potomac-area seniors will head to college with renewable National Merit Scholarships worth up to $2,000 a year after being named winners in the program's final round of 2026 awards.
Maggie Zhou of Winston Churchill High School earned a scholarship to the University of Maryland. Emily Annabelle Bupp and Avni Koenig, both of Thomas S. Wootton High School, won awards to Boston University and the University of Southern California, respectively. MCPS announced the honors on Monday.
The awards bring Montgomery County Public Schools' total to 49 Merit Scholars for the 2026 cycle, according to the district.
What the money means
College-sponsored National Merit Scholarships provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study. The sponsoring university finances each award and selects winners from among National Merit Finalists who plan to attend that school.
Over four years, the award totals between $2,000 and $8,000 depending on the sponsoring university's award level.
A strong year for MCPS
The 49-scholar total caps a cycle that began when more than 100 MCPS juniors scored high enough on the October 2024 PSAT/NMSQT to be named Semifinalists in September 2025. From there, students advanced to Finalist status and competed for three types of awards:
- May 2026: Twenty-two MCPS students won one-time $2,500 National Merit Scholarships. Churchill's Daniel Phu and Wootton's Kyle Li and Vikram Sunil C. Reddy were among them.
- June 2026: Nine MCPS students received college-sponsored scholarships, pushing the district total to 46.
- July 13, 2026: Zhou, Bupp, and Koenig rounded out the final three.
Nationally, about 6,500 students earned Merit Scholar designations in 2026, sharing nearly $24 million in scholarship money, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.
Context for Potomac families
Both Churchill and Wootton consistently rank among Maryland's top public high schools. Wootton placed No. 3 in the state and No. 191 nationally in U.S. News & World Report's 2025 rankings; Churchill ranked No. 8 in Maryland and No. 402 nationally.
The NMSC cautions against comparing schools by Merit Scholar counts, noting the program honors individual students.
What's next
The July 13 announcement closes the 2026 National Merit cycle. The next competition begins when juniors in the 2026–2027 school year take the PSAT/NMSQT in October 2026. MCPS's 2026–2027 school year starts August 22. Families can learn more about the National Merit program at nationalmerit.org.
