Nine Oak Park and River Forest High School seniors qualified as 2027 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists, putting them in the running for thousands of dollars in scholarship money.

The school announced Tuesday, Sept. 15 that Levi Beutler, Calestous Byer, Ryan Campbell, Benjamin Chalmers, Rei Freireich, Peter Kohout, Sam Morgan, Keaton Roberts and Graham Templeton earned the distinction by scoring among the highest PSAT/NMSQT test-takers in Illinois. The nine were honored at the high school's annual National Merit breakfast for families that morning.

Semifinalists represent less than 1 percent of U.S. high school seniors. About 1.2 million juniors entered the 2027 program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) in 2025, and roughly 16,000 scored high enough to advance. Each state's semifinalist count is proportional to its share of the national graduating class, meaning Illinois's large senior population yields more semifinalist slots than smaller states.

One of the nine already has a national title on his résumé. Roberts earned a gold medal in biology and microbiology at the 49th Annual NAACP ACT-SO National Competition, held at McCormick Place in Chicago. The school announced that honor on July 30.

This year's count is close to last year's pace. The 2026 program produced 10 OPRF semifinalists from a pool of more than 1.3 million test-takers nationwide.

The path ahead has several stages. About 15,000 of the roughly 16,000 semifinalists are expected to learn in February whether they have advanced to the finalist round. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation will then select 2,500 finalists for $2,500 scholarships. Another roughly 700 corporate-sponsored awards will go to students who meet specific company criteria, and about 140 colleges and universities are expected to fund an additional 3,500 scholarships for finalists who enroll at their institutions.

Families looking for updates can check the OPRF website or contact the school's counseling office as the February notification window approaches.