<p>The National $2500 awards may be used at any school, not just ones listed by NM as participating schools. </p>
<p>There is a lot of confusion about the “college” awards because many schools offer the $2000 through National Merit, but many offer much more using their own funds. These colleges who offer “full rides” or the like just use the National Merit Finalist designation as a screening device to offer their own scholarships. They know that anyone who has been named a Finalist has gone through a rigorous screening process and is one of the country’s top scholars. The confusion arises because they guarantee National Merit Finalists certain scholarships and often refer to them as National Merit scholarships, although these are not through the National Merit organization.</p>
<p>When the National Merit organization says that a student may receive only one National Merit award, they are talking about one of the three they offer: the corporate awards, the $2500 national award or the $2000 college-sponsored award. I have a daughter who two years ago received the $2500 award which she was reluctant to accept because she was also offered a substantial almost “full-ride” scholarship (also called a National Merit scholarship) from the school. The NM people assured us that signing the $2500 offer would not preclude receiving the school’s scholarship, and they were correct. She received both, with no reduction in the school’s offer because of the $2500. However, this should not be assumed to be the case for all schools. Some schools allow stacking while others do not.</p>
<p>I think it would be interesting if students who are receiving the $2500 letters would share what state they are from, along with PSAT and SAT scores so we could get a feel for what criteria are used in those awards. I realize extracurriculars and essays, etc. also count, but at least it might give us a baseline. It would also tell us whether letters from a certain state have already been received by students there. We’re still hoping - daughters 1 and 2 were both finalists in prior years, but only one received the $2500. Daughter 3 is in the running this year, but hope is fading as letters are received by others.</p>