NMSC only publishes sponsors. There have been threads on CC about the scholarships, I think.
@tallgrass I wish I had your confidence! DS scored 221 (he over thought the math) in TX, last year the cut was 220 but this year could be a game changer with the expected increase so weâre considering him âon the bubble.â Thankfully he has a plan A, B, and C for his first choice school, NMF is plan B.
@mmom22 Here is a link to Fall 2016 NM Student guide. Page 20 has a list of college Merit Scholarship sponsors⊠What they offer varies widely, and is subject to change. Itâs a good starting point, though! http://nationalmerit.imodules.com/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/student_guide.pdf?sessionid=0c4f8650-6604-443c-894a-60dc5d42ab54
@3scoutsmom I hear you. Itâs predicted the scores will go up, we just donât know by how much. In our case, the 5 point jump has never happened, so thatâs what gives me the confidence. Interestingly enough, we also have plans A, B, and C, with NMF being plan B.
3 years ago with my S15, we did not even know about all these NMF offers from many schools - we just thought itâs some sort of âcheckâ on college application that top schools will look at favorably. Then is September, after he was named NMSF, we were literally shocked by the offers he was receiving almost daily in mail! None of those schools was on our radar screen.
So this time around we are being proactive, and will apply to 1-2 NMF programs as plan B (plan C happens is PSAT scores jump by 5 points).
Re comment #542:
They definitely are subject to change. Anyone offered a scholarship / scholarship package obviously would be grandfathered in under the terms in place so no worries there. However, any student considering a college or university on that list might want to check to ensure that the terms wonât change for their incoming class. Itâs actually best to check directly with the college/university rather than rely on the website or ask NMSC, as terms can actually change during the application cycle!
A great example is UChicago who, for the past several years (and certainly for the class of 2020), guaranteed $4,000 per year to accepted NMFâs whether or not you received anything from NMSC (corporate, UChicago college-sponsored, or NMSC one-time $2500). If you received NOTHING from NMSC, UChicago offered you the entire $4,000. If you received something, UChicago made up the dif. Whether that scholarship program stacked with other merit or need-based aid, I donât know, but that was the plan presumably in place when my daughter applied, as we had checked the terms on their website around the time she was named NMSF.
Well, it turns out that was NOT the plan in place. Sometime this academic year they changed the terms so that incoming NMFâs would receive no more than what NMSC directly gives out, if anything. My daughter just received the $2,000 yearly college-sponsored stipend. Sheâs happy, of course - except that when she applied we budgeted for a $4,000 stipend in the event of admission (UChicago isnât exactly cheap so every little bit helps). An $8,000 difference is not a lot in the scheme of things, esp. when you look at their COA. It will mean that sheâs more on the hook for summer employment and work-study than she would have been. UChicago is great about both these things (they pay their students to get an internship!), so we are hoping it all works out.
Any school is free to change the terms from year to year and itâs to be expected that a few will each year. The timing of the UChicago change, however, was a bit of a surprise as the old info. was on the website till we checked again in early 2017. As my daughter was not admitted till one of the later admit dates, she wouldnât have been expecting a notice of merit aid before spring 2017 and I wasnât in the habit of checking the website to ensure that scholarship info. wasnât going to âdisappearâ (seriously, who would have thought that could be the case???). The lack of notice one way or the other through April was a bit disconcerting and families had to call to get confirmation that, indeed, they had discontinued providing their own merit aid to NMFâs. When a school changes the terms, they donât seem to be very forthcoming.
Moral of the story: Unless you are crystal clear on what will be offered you/your student, call to get that clarification. Better yet, e-mail. Get on record that you are requesting confirmation/clarification concerning the schoolâs NM scholarship policy in event of admission. It sounds silly to advise this but you should probably NOT trust the schoolâs website. Many schools, by the way, will not change their policies - they definitely are courting NMFâs and will send you marketing material or mention the benefits when you tour as an NMSF. And, of course, anything offered with your acceptance is good. Once in a while, however, a school will drop or alter its program and not really mention it. So if there is any doubt, be proactive and check with them.
Re: OU - I (the mom) loved it. Great programs, happy, friendly students, and a gorgeous campus that felt like home.
S says it was âsecond in almost everything.â He says he could definitely go there, like it, and it would be perfectly fine, but two other NMF schools are tied for first for him. Heâs auto-admit at both of the other places, so heâs not sure if heâll even apply to OU.
For anyone who visits, the Peanut Butter Shudder choco-pb-cheesecake in OUâs dining hall is to die for. 
@DiotimaDM What were the 2 schools your S liked better? BTW, my impression of OU matched yours, thankfully my D shared the same feeling so she will definitely apply there in the fall.
@tallgrass Sâs favorites are University of New Mexico and Texas Tech.
At UNM, he liked the campus, dorms, dining options, town, geography and climate best. Iâll caveat that the vast majority of folks would probably pick OUâs dining over UNMâs, but S was swayed by things like 24/7 access that included a Starbucks-style coffee bar, and multi-level seating rather than by quality / variety of food options. Ainât no peanut butter cheesecake at UNM. 
UNMâs NMF offer is full tuition & fees, room, board, books and several hundred left over.
He thought Texas Tech had the edge in overall academics and Honors College. Techâs NMF offer is full cost of attendance, including tuition, room, board, books and about $4,200 in stipends to cover travel and misc. expenses.
So for him, UNM and Tech were each first in several things and third in several other things. Heâs thinking that heâll probably pick one of those two, especially since the financials are better, too. He really loved the Profâl Writing programâs genre fiction focus at OU, and thatâs a unique offering that doesnât exist at the vast majority of schools. You can get it through private workshops, though, so thatâs what heâll do if he wants a writing focus in addition to pre-med and biology / psychology.
A caveat on the financials - you probably know this since youâve visited, but many OU students told us that their actual costs are much less (sometimes zero) than the stated out-of-pocket because they get extra scholarships on an annual basis.
I did visit reports in the Parents of 2018 thread. Give me a sec to find the links and Iâll post them.
UNM: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20532531/#Comment_20532531
UT Dallas: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20541030/#Comment_20541030
Texas Tech: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20548698/#Comment_20548698
OU: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20564699/#Comment_20564699
In the intervening posts between all of those, I add stuff I forgot, respond to questions, etc., so you might want to start with UNM and read the whole series.
@DiotimaDM I just read all your campus visit reviews, thanks so much. They are very detailed.
We only visited OU and TAMU. My D loved OU and disliked TAMU, so thatâs that. As far as OU, no, I didnât know our actual cost could be so much lower. If there are any examples/reviews of additional scholarships, please feel free to share the link.
Did you consider ASU-Barrett and Alabama? Those are 2 NMF schools we debated visiting, but they did not fit into our schedule. We may visit in the fall, but still not sure. Would be interested in your opinion/experience.
@tallgrass At OU, thereâs an annual cycle where students can apply for smaller departmental scholarships ranging from several hundred dollars to several thousand. One of our guides said sheâd been awarded an extra $5,000 this way, from the marketing dept, if Iâm remembering right. Others said theyâd been given smaller amounts ranging from $1,000 to $3,000. Students can be offered more than one of these, so if itâs a thousand here and $1500 there, it adds up.
I believe itâs @3scoutsmom who said that her costs went down to zero after a combo of outside and extra scholarships at OU.
Re: ASU and Bama - for whatever reason, ASU never piqued Sâs interest. He likes Bama on paper, but says itâs pretty far away from home (weâre in CA) and since the financial package is similar to OU, heâd take OU if he wanted something like that. I think both are great offers, though, and weâd have been happy to take him there if heâd wanted to see them.
Re: engineering - I donât know much about engineering and thatâs what your D is interested in, right? I know UTD, Tech and UNM all have engineering, and UNM has Sandia and another major (defense contractor?) lab right nearby for internships / employment opportunities. Not trying to push any of those schools, just saying itâs there if you wanted to look deeper. 
@DiotimaDM Yes, my D is interested (as of now) in aerospace engineering. Thatâs why Bama and ASU made it to the list, and why UNM, UTD and TT (and some other) didnât. On the other hand, she knows things change in college, and she might switch to mechanical instead, or out of engineering altogether. So thatâs what makes it slightly more complicated.
The reason for me to consider Bama is pricing - itâs more generous than OU (especially after you count free housing first year and $2.5K engineering scholarship). Plus the pricing overall seems much more straightforward compared to OUs myriad of expensive fees not covered by NMF offer.
Re: aerospace engineering - you know about UA Huntsville, right? Strong connections to lots of aerospace opportunities.
Re: OU and fees - I wasnât thrilled with that aspect, either. Transparency, please!
Yes, @DiotimaDM my OU daughter got enough additional scholarship to cover 100% first year with some leftover to cover future years. I know she has more than enough to cover this summer and next year. Iâve also heard that there are more scholarships available Junior and Senior year that are major specific because at that point you are unlikely to change majors. Sheâs moving off campus and that will be another big savings.
@tallgrass I agree about OUâs fees itâs crazy but there is enough money included in the NM package to take care of a good bit of the fees but it is complex and varies not only by how many classes you are taking but also which classes you are taking. Hereâs an odd and little known fact, OU only charges their âacademic excellence feeâ for the first three years for D this fee is $1,275 a semester, itâs one of the crazier fees itâs based on the number of credit hours and the year you were admitted. Different years pay different rates.
I noticed that today (5-10-17) they released another list of National Merit Scholarship Winners. Is there a published list somewhere where we can lookup our names to see if we won? Do we just have to rely on the school to tell us? It sure would be nice to be able to look it up somewhereâŠ
@Familyof5 Have you logged into your studentâs NMSC account? We logged into my daughterâs account a couple of weeks ago and it posted she had won one of the school sponsored scholarships. Good luck.
All winners are notified on their portal.
Edit/update: they also send you a letter.
Yes, forgot to mention we received the letter within a week.
@JBStillFlying Do you mean that the corporate winners have been notified on the portal? What about general $2,500 winners? Should their portals also show something?
@flutem8 - NMSC started mailing out corporate-sponsored scholarships March 8, and the $2,500 one-time scholarship March 23. My understanding from NMSC is that if you are awarded a scholarship the information also shows up on the portal. You can definitely give them a call to find out your status. Itâs possible that not all scholarships have been awarded yet.
We got the letter last week from NM notifying us of a college-sponsored scholarship, and that should be the last wave of notifications.