Connecticut IB Academy senior Jayden Lin has been named a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist. The prestigious National Merit Scholarship Program honors individual students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies. Lin will have the opportunity to continue in the competition for 6,870 National Merit Scholarships offered in the spring worth nearly $26 million.
“Being named a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist is definitely a point of pride for me. It's an accumulation of my hard work in CIBA, and having the fruit of my efforts in front of me is pretty surreal. However, it's also a reminder for me that I need to keep working harder to keep up the pace,” said Lin. “Basketball coach Dawn Staley has a set of rules for life that her players abide by, one of them being to celebrate a win or mope about a loss for only 24 hours before it's back to work. For me, that means that being a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist is a great accomplishment, but I have more work to do.”
More than 1.3 million students from more than 21,000 high schools across the country entered the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the Preliminary SAT (PSAT) during their junior year.
Lin scored a 1500 out of 1520 on the PSAT and is among around 16,000 semifinalists, representing less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors, chosen nationwide to advance in the competition. Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition, including submitting a detailed scholarship application. About 95% of semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and approximately half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship.
Having submitted his finalist application, Lin is now keeping busy with his schoolwork, activities and college applications. Outside of academics, he is very involved in student life. He is the President of BioMedical Olympiad, Vice President of Spanish Honor Society, and a member of the Student Advisory Board, National Honor Society, Chinese Club, Yearbook Club and more. He also plays tennis and is a former member of the cross-country team.
Lin says he hopes to major in engineering in college. Mechanical Engineering is his first choice, but he’s also interested in material sciences, computer science or robotics.
“I find that engineering is using creativity or innovation to solve functional problems, which is exactly what I want to do in life,” he said.
He also would like to minor in business or entrepreneurship.
Lin said, “Being my own boss is a big dream of mine.”