<p>Thank you Pudmadcate for posting info about U-Mass-Amherst.
D won NMS last year. She was wait listed at her first choice school. So in May she faxed NM the name of the college she was planning to attend.
If you changed your choice school, it’s best to call the school you plan to attend right after you heard of the award. It’s good to know as soon as possible how your future school deals with NMS. Like some posters mentioned, colleges deal differently with the award.
The college has to adjust your FA. In my D’s case the school lower her personal contribution. Some schools will eliminate work study which can be a drawback to some students.</p>
<p>From Whoever: “At Iowa State, is it the first 50 to apply, or the first 50 to get all their ducks in a row (e.g., notifying NMSC that Iowa State is 1st choice)?”</p>
<p>From the Iowa State Website:</p>
<p>Iowa State continues to enroll more Iowa National Merit Scholars than any other university in the country. Eligible Iowa residents may qualify for a full tuition, room, and board scholarship over the course of four years (eight semesters) if they are named National Merit Scholars.</p>
<p>Students from states outside of Iowa who are involved in the National Merit Scholarship competition may be eligible for a variety of scholarship opportunities at Iowa State.</p>
<p>To become eligible, students must complete all of the following:</p>
<p>Apply and be offered admission to Iowa State University.
Notify the National Merit Scholarship Corporation that Iowa State University is your “first choice college.”
Submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
Become a National Merit Finalist.</p>
<p>In my son’s case (we’re from Iowa), it was based on the first 50 students who applied and selected Iowa State as their first choice. We were quoted a total scholarship offer of $49,000.</p>
<p>I’m a Texas Finalist! w00t!!!</p>
<p>In case anyone missed it, here’s a nice compilation of schools offering NMF scholarships</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/649276-nmf-scholarships-updated-compilation.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/649276-nmf-scholarships-updated-compilation.html</a></p>
<p>Dante, beyond tuition, room, and board, some schools may throw in a few thousand dollars or a laptop, but I wouldn’t think these minor differences would be the most important factor in deciding where to go.</p>
<p>Wahhh National Merit is confusing :o</p>
<p>Anyone else from Texas received their notification, and if so when and where do you live?</p>
<p>Congrats to those of you who have heard! And good luck to those still waiting.</p>
<p>mcmom, Thank you for posting the link to that thread. I’m going to add the info I have saved for a few more schools.</p>
<p>braindrain, I’m from Austin :)</p>
<p>So how does the next round work?
For the $2500 designation as “NM Scholar,” do they only consider the people whose first-choice school doesn’t already offer money to Finalists? Basically, what comprises the selection of the 8000 or so “Scholars,” and what do they get?</p>
<p>Houston - principal announced NMF at the end of school Fri, and then emailed the finalists to congratulate and make sure they heard the announcement. (D hadn’t heard it - left early.)</p>
<p>My son was notified on Tuesday, we are in Michigan. However, he only heard about it because he was at the School Board meeting receiving another award and the Principal, while detailing all my son’s fine qualities 
said “and to top it all off, I was just notified today of his status as a National Merit Finalist”. It was a great way to get the news, and he got a standing O from the crowd and school board! </p>
<p>The other 2 finalists have not heard from the principal yet. </p>
<p>Congrats to all the other finalists! Good work!</p>
<p>My D just heard from the school college advisor that she is a finalist. We live in Georgia. No letter to our residence yet.</p>
<p>The letter arrived at our house today-- Didn’t even need to wait for DS to arrive home as through the clear plastic view window it reads: Dear Finalist…
No mention at the school, but our school is still reallys struggling to catch up after the unexpected week off due to the ice storm (the second full week of school cancelled the year because of weather events).</p>
<p>No letter to the residence yet in OH even though DD already knows. No public acknowledgement at the HS.</p>
<p>Got the letter today in the mail (Iowa). Principal notified S and gave him the certificate last Friday.</p>
<p>No word yet in Juneau, Alaska. From school or in mail at home, but snailmail does take awhile to get up here sometimes. I did hear that someone north of us heard 2 or 3 weeks ago that they did not make it with a GPA of 3.1. So it sounds like they do notify those that don’t make it to finalist earlier.</p>
<p>I finally sent an email to D’s guidance counselor today. The counselor confirmed that the principal has the certificate-- and planned to hold it to present at the senior awards assembly. D told me that the notice sent to our house came today.</p>
<p>(D’s NMSF status was in the local newspaper before the school did anything. I’m not sure we ever would have heard from the school.)</p>
<p>Our counselor informed us today. All 6 from my school advanced :)</p>
<p>Got the letter at home today–still no word from school.</p>
<p>Got the letter, certificates were impersonally given through the ‘mail service’ of the school.</p>