Mission Bay High senior named a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist – San Diego Union-Tribune
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Mission Bay High School senior Julian Rosenblum is a 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program semifinalist.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced the names of more than 16,000 semifinalists in the 71st annual program on Sept. 10. Their inclusion is based on their performance on the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which they took as juniors.
Over 1.3 million juniors in about 20,000 high schools nationwide took the exam, program officials said. The semifinalists represent less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors.
Born in New York, Rosenblum attended the French American School of New York in Westchester from nursery through third grade.
At the beginning of fourth grade his family moved to San Diego and Rosenblum enrolled in the San Diego French American School, where he remained through eighth grade.
“I chose to go to Mission Bay (High) primarily to complete the IB program,” Rosenblum said “Also, many of my middle school friends were enrolling in Mission Bay as well.”
His International Baccalaureate course work as a senior is very rigorous and demanding.
“I’m taking IB higher level English, history and biology; IB standard level math AA; IB Theory of Knowledge; AP computer science A; Honors symphony orchestra and Math 254 (linear algebra) through Mesa College online,” Rosenblum said. “I’m also studying for both AP Physics C exams with a tutor.”
Outside of school, Rosenblum plays the violin and piano. In addition, he trains to maintain his brown sash (belt) in Choy Li Fut Kung Fu as well as teaching classes at the studio.
“Between my own training and work, I spend lots of time at the Kung Fu school,” Rosenblum said. “I also enjoy playing video games with my New York friends in my spare time.”
As for his source of motivation, Rosenblum said, “I don’t really have any one specific motivation to do well in school. From a young age, my parents instilled in me that school is important, and I’ve always gotten pretty good grades.
“In high school, I’m further motivated to try to get into a good university and with college credit, so I’ve worked even harder to maintain straight As and good test scores,” he said. “It helps that as I get older and older, the classes I take can be more and more aligned with my interests.”
Regarding his future aspirations, Rosenblum said, “I’m considering taking a gap year, but will either way likely go to a four-year college. I’m applying to several schools, namely aiming for UCs such as UCSD, UCLA, UC Berkeley, as well as private schools all around, including Carnegie Mellon and USC.”
Rosenblum said he is looking at schools that offer a strong program in computational biology, his intended major, or something adjacent like molecular biology, automated science, computer science or another applied science.
“I’m still not set on taking a gap year. I have heard from some family members that their friends in college that took gap years entered college more down to earth and self assured.”
There are several more steps for Rosenblum to advance in the National Merit contest.
The semifinalists will compete for the 6,930 National Merit Scholarships announced next spring. Combined, they are worth nearly $26 million. To be considered for a scholarship, the students must advance to the finalist level, which is anticipated for around 95% of the semifinalists, or about 15,000 of them. About half of the finalists will receive a scholarship and Merit Scholar title, officials said.
To be considered as a finalist, the students and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application. This includes their academic record, school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, honors and awards received. The students also need a recommendation from a high school official, to write an essay and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm their earlier test results.
Next spring, 2,500 National Merit $2,500 scholarships; around 830 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards, and 3,600 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be announced. These awards will be announced via four news releases beginning in April and concluding in July.
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