<p>Thanks mom2collegekids! She has been leaning towards Cedarville Univ. but we are now reviewing other possibilities. We have a visit to Wash.Univ. in St.Louis scheduled in a few weeks, and others to follow. The wonderful possibilities have just increased. </p>
<p>Thank you for the SAT info. That is very helpful and we will have ALL the test scores sent to NMSF. Her GPA is good, behavior good, paperwork good, and essay is progressing. Hopefully the school will send packet in on time… not sure they understand the process… they told her she had until Oct. 12th. I may meet with them next week to make sure we are all on the same path. </p>
<p>Is any other guidance counselor having trouble with the online submittal that the schools have to complete after the student does his or her part? We met with the GC and principal yesterday and they said the online submittal won’t allow them to put in class rank and class size.</p>
<p>Our son submitted his information and essay just fine–although it was somewhat scary to hit the button to submit his portion to the school and not know for sure if its travel through cyberspace was successful.</p>
<p>I feel confident the school will call National Merit to get it worked outo but the new online process seems to have a few glitches.</p>
<p>Absolutely keep up with the school to make sure that they do what THEY are supposed to do…write the rec, get the transcript, and send paperwork to NMCorp on time! :)</p>
<p>*She has been leaning towards Cedarville Univ. but we are now reviewing other possibilities. We have a visit to Wash.Univ. in St.Louis scheduled in a few weeks, and others to follow. *</p>
<p>Yes…she’ll have other schools that will offer bigger scholarships than Cedarville. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, WashU only gives $2k for NMF…not much. Do you need your D to get a good merit scholarship?</p>
<p>Is it alright not to put paragraphs in your finalist application essay if it does not fit into the 3600 character limit on the online app with paragraphs? the only other option would be to cut out some stuff, but I’m reluctant to do that.</p>
<p>Aradalf: our son encountered the same problem beacuse the online app counts spaces at the end of your paragraphs as characters. It became an excellent exercise in effective editing to make the most of the spaces allowed. </p>
<p>You can view the essay and see it for yourself. Our son did not like the looks of no paragraphs so he chose to edit to make it fit.</p>
<p>" Unfortunately, WashU only gives $2k for NMF…not much. Do you need your D to get a good merit scholarship?"</p>
<p>Yes, we do need a good scholarship. My husband and I have been ‘studying’ the NMSF information all weekend. It looks like we need to expand our search towards the colleges with NMF/SF benefits. We are self-employed so I do not think the corporate scholarships will apply. We feel very blessed to be in this position, but it is obvious we need to focus on these opportunities before they slip away. D is crazy busy with school, SAT prep, piano, and EC. Lots to think about, and it appears we need a plan of action !</p>
<p>Shameless Pitt promoter here, Winkledo. It’s an easy application and there is some nice merit money available although it is not linked to NM status.</p>
<p>I hope I am in the right place for this question. My D just submitted her National Merit application. Then she tried to print it and cannot get back in to do so. Any advice? Thanks!</p>
<p>mnmomof2…unfortunately, after “submit” you can never see it again (found this out after daughter clicked submit before we got a chance to print). When I gave parent permission, I was able to see it, but again, it was before submission…and when I tried to re-enter afterward, it was gone (hopefully safely on its was to NMF!!!) It’s a little unnerving to me, the queen of “file copy” not to have a hard copy “just in case”…especially since this is their first year of doing it online…sigh.</p>
<p>My daughter also is a NMSF, and leaning toward Cedarville. We are excited about all of the other opportunities opening up, but our daughter is still pretty set on Cedarville. </p>
<p>Have you found other Christian colleges similar to Cedarville offering better (closer to full ride) to NMF? Liberty and Oklahoma Christian offer full ride, and Baylor offers very close to full ride (but you have to have them listed as your first choice University on the National Merit form). Most of the other Christian schools seem to tack on 1,000 or so to their academic scholarship offer, but that doesn’t help much. </p>
<p>If you know of others with better offers, we’d be very interested to know about them.
The schools we have found that offer full rides are not necessarily ones my daughter is very excited about spending four years at.</p>
<p>"unfortunately, after “submit” you can never see it again "</p>
<p>Given this^^, how does one go about changing his/her first choice? I thought as long as this is done by the school’s designated cutoff, it’s all good. But how do you change it since you can’t get back in the online system?</p>
<p>mnmomof2,
The school administrator who is submitting the application can still print it. She might talk to her counselor about checking it that way, or ask for a hardcopy of her portion. </p>
<p>Also, if you just want to verify that it got to National Merit, you can call them. They are very helpful and willing to check on it.</p>
<p>thanks momtimes3. Just checked and there is no yellow postcard, but who knows if son threw it out. I just texted him and asked him to check with his counselor…I hope he hasn’t messed up. I don’t care for this online thing.</p>
<p>They may not be doing the same big packet for schools that have gone to online submission. Ours was still paper based, and the yellow postcard just facilitates change of first choice school designation. You could change it with a letter, and I think even a phone call, until late into the spring.</p>
<p>You are asked to report your first-choice college (to which you are applying for admission) in Section E on
your National Merit Scholarship Application. However, if you are undecided, write undecided on your application
and report your first-choice college to NMSC as soon as possible. You can report your college choice
or a change in it by mailing the postcard provided in your Semifinalist Packet, or by faxing a copy to NMSC
at (847) 866-5113. (This college choice card is also available at [National</a> Merit Scholarship Corporation](<a href=“http://www.nationalmerit.org%5DNational”>http://www.nationalmerit.org).) It is your responsibility
to apply and be admitted to the college you plan to attend.</p>
<p>Ds packet had a yellow card. The packet was basically just a large white envelope with the letter, instructions on what to do next, a brochure listing all of the NMF-affiliated colleges and specific instructions from the high school.</p>
!</p>