We are in State Florida and my son was just accepted to FSU and his scholarship letter said they were pleased to offer the Benacquisto. However it said he had to be a finalist. So is that what he finds out in February, or is that what happens at the very end of the process when they decide Scholar status in May or June? My understanding is that 16000 semi finalists become 1500 finalists, which then become 7500 scholars.
@okeydokeypokey you will find out in Feb if he becomes a finalist. Around 15,000 become finalists.
So in Florida, this would be when he knows if he is getting the Benacquisto, correct?
I called UF and they said anyone who gets in, makes NMF and lists UF as first choice gets Benacquisto. So we’ll know 2/9.
Your understanding is correct. In a couple of weeks, he will find out if he is a finalist. As you note, almost all semi finalists become finalists.
@srqchic - they also allocate the scholarships by state, so you might be a top candidate, but a student in a less competitive state might get one and you might not. 
I took the passage below to mean that finalists are the only designation not done by state (from the instructions, talking about the $2500 scholar awards):
As in the designation of Semifinalists, these awards are allocated on a state-representational basis according to
the state’s percentage of the national total of high school graduates;
Do we know if the letters that go out on Feb 5 will be bulk rate, slow type mail? I assume so. Getting anxious here!
We have a few question about how/when to indicate first choice college. My D has been accepted to three schools that offer relatively small scholarships to NMF. She would like to be considered for these, but she has not decided which college she will be attending and may not decide until late April. Also in the running are several schools that do not award NM scholarships of any kind.
Two of the three schools have indicated that as long as you list the school as the first choice, you are eligible. Penn State gives an early deadline for doing so: “Full-time students who list Penn State as a first-choice school on the National Merit application by February are considered.” We are working on the assumption that this is 2/1, but suppose it could be later in the month. My D has emails in to the other two schools to confirm that they do not have early deadlines.
On the college choice page of the OSA/National Merit website, the only way we see to list a college choice is by selecting: “I plan to attend a regionally accredited college in the United States” and there is a drop down box to select the college. Is this where my D would indicate Penn State is her “first choice” at this point? And can she change this later in the process should she decide to attend a different school? It is a bit confusing because the wording makes it seem very “final”. Thanks!
@3CollegeMom I would call their national merit office and ask .
@Phlipper Thank you. My D won’t be home until well after offices close (any day this week) and I am a bit worried about the 2/1 PSU deadline, so just thought I would ask here to see if anyone knew. If I don’t get any more information, I will call tomorrow while she is at school. I would prefer not to make calls for her, but will do so if we have no other choice. But thank you.
Everything I have heard is that the earliest NMSC shares the first choice school data is 3/1.
And so we come around the bend for the week when we’ll finally know the results…Anyone received any notification positive or negative?
From nationalmerit.org web site. Guess we will know soon this week.
Published: 2/5/2018 8:35 AM
Certificates of Merit Mailed to Principals
Today NMSC mailed Certificates of Merit to principals across the country, and notified them of which students have advanced to Finalist standing in the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program. Letters to Finalists’ homes will be mailed on February 12. About 15,000 of the 16,000 Semifinalists named in September 2017 have met all requirements to advance to Finalist standing in the competition. All Finalists will be considered for National Merit Scholarships to be offered in 2018
My D18 was told by the principal to go see her tomorrow during break. We have no idea what it could be about…it could be NMF right? Are the schools notified electronically along with the snailmailed certificates?
Time to hold our breaths…
fingers crossed
Ugh 
Nothing yet…the Principal called her in because she heard about her package at UMiami and wanted to know if she had told the college advisors. Lady! Why not just ask then instead of telling her to meet? Does she not understand the pins and needles we are sitting on? We are in the midst of overanalyzing everything…bleh :))
I would think tomorrow will be the earliest given how the "bad letter"schedule went. From what I red they went out on the 16th of January and people started receiving them on the 18th/19th.
Yeah, my Informed Delivery says we’re getting nothing from NMSC today. Maybe tomorrow, but hopefully by Friday.
anyone know why they send it to principals first and not the students directly?