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When Broadneck High School (BHS) student Nathaniel Weinbaum first took the PSAT, his score encouraged him to want to do even better the next time. A perfect score felt within reach. Weinbaum was determined to try to get it, so he threw himself into studying for his second attempt.
Waiting to learn his score was nerve-wracking, but it was only about a month before he got confirmation that he achieved his goal. Due to receiving a perfect score, Weinbaum wasn’t shocked when he got the news that he was a semifinalist for the National Merit Scholarship, which recognizes the top PSAT scorers across the country.
“That really just became the goal … because I knew it was possible. I just tried really hard,” Weinbaum said. “Because when I look back on it, I can think, ‘That’s something I really applied myself to and achieved due to hard work.’”
Every year, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) offers a competitive scholarship to a select few students. At the beginning of this year’s process, about 50,000 participants received recognition. In September, 16,000 of them were named semifinalists, keeping them in the running to compete for $2,500 National Merit Scholarships in 2026. Additional college-sponsored and corporate-sponsored scholarships will be awarded to other qualifying semifinalists.
Nine Anne Arundel County Public Schools students were named 2026 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists, including Weinbaum and fellow BHS student Zachariah Jackson, as well as Severna Park High School (SPHS) students Aaron Ahmadi, Evan Crockett, Maya Kirshtein and Christopher Lowman.
Now a 17-year-old senior, Weinbaum aspires to do something involving biology in college, hopefully followed by medical school. During his time at BHS, he’s been part of multiple extracurriculars, including the physics club and the track team.
To celebrate the NMSC’s recognition of Weinbaum and fellow semifinalist Zachariah Jackson, the BHS band performed in their honor. “I definitely wasn’t expecting a whole performance,” Weinbaum said.
Jackson also wasn’t surprised that his PSAT score helped him reach semifinalist status, but it wasn’t until the list of Anne Arundel County semifinalists came out that he understood the scope of his achievement.
“It was certainly very shocking to me that I was one of only (nine) in the county,” Jackson said. “I know the number in the country is like 1 percent. Seeing the numbers is shocking.”
Jackson’s time at BHS has been full of performances. He performs in Broadneck’s plays and musicals, he’s in the vocal ensemble, and he’s a founding member of the school’s a cappella group, Harmonix. This semester, he’s playing the titular role in Broadneck’s production of “The Man Who Came to Dinner.” Jackson hopes to go to college for either musical theater or acting.
Jackson is grateful for the support he’s received while attending BHS, both onstage and academically. He found Broadneck’s PSAT preparatory course helpful. “Basically, all of my teachers have been very friendly and very helpful to me,” he said.
SPHS senior Evan Crockett praised his high school’s PSAT prep course as well. Crockett shared that he has enjoyed his time at SPHS, noting that he’s had great teachers and made great friends.
Crockett hopes to study computer science in college, following in the footsteps of his dad. “I thought it would be kind of fun, kind of an interesting field, especially because that’s the kind of thing I’m good at,” Crockett said.
Crockett plays sports throughout the whole year, including recreational soccer with friends in the fall and spring, swimming in the summer, and basketball in the winter. The most time-consuming of his extracurriculars is being on the SPHS cross-country team.
Crockett’s classmate Maya Kirshtein was anxious to discover whether or not she had made the cut. When the list of semifinalists was announced, Kirshtein discovered that studying for the PSAT paid off.
“It felt a little bit surreal,” Kirshtein said. “But I’m really happy that I am a semifinalist. I feel like I worked really hard.”
Kirshtein started her high school career at Key School in Annapolis, but she transferred to SPHS as a junior because the school had classes that she wanted to take. She’s been on sailing teams all throughout high school, and she’s now the president of the SPHS sailing team, which went to nationals last year. Kirshtein is planning to study mechanical engineering in college, and she hopes to someday become a professor.
Seventeen-year-old SPHS senior Christopher Lowman was also glad to see a positive outcome from his studying for the PSAT when he was named a semifinalist. “I guess to be one of the few people where colleges actually look at my PSAT score, that’s pretty cool,” Lowman said.
Lowman currently has the highest weighted GPA in his class at SPHS. A straight-A student, he took eight AP classes last year and is taking six this year.
Lowman’s favorite thing about SPHS is the people. “The teachers especially, almost all of them really care about their students having the best quality education,” he said.
During his freshman year, Lowman founded the SPHS e-sports club, of which he is the president. In his free time, he has started coding a video game. He hopes to major in computer science in college.
“I would just say to anyone trying to take the PSAT, or just going through high school, make sure to give it the best effort you possibly can,” Lowman said. “No matter what, it’s always going to be better than if you didn’t.”
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