“It DOES NOT mean that if a student gets the $2500 NMSC award that they become ineligible for the large NMF packages”
I didnt say that.
I suggest that anyone confused by which awards a student may receive should call NMSF directly.
their employees are very helpful.
@Mnacttutor
"UTD NMF office confirmed the 2500 scholarship from NMSC is in addition to their scholarships "
YES!
NMSF’s CAN receive BOTH the $2500 direct award AND the UTD college sponsored full tuition award. As you said all they have to do is designate UTD as their first choice school[ before the final mid May deadline]
what students CAN’T receive is BOTH a corporate NM award AND the UTD NM full tuition award.
@menloparkmom, the UTD official NM award IS NOT FULL TUITION. The UTD official NM award is $3000. Do you have a student at UTD, as I do? Have you seen the official scholarship breakdown in a UTD student’s financial aid portal, as I have? Have you had it explained to you, in person, by a UTD honors college staff member, as I have?
A student who lists UTD as first choice with NMSC will get a full ride NO MATTER WHICH OFFICIAL NM AWARD IS OFFERED.
It is you who are confused.
Ok , let me make this simpler- I hope.
there are 2 BUCKETS of awards that MOST of the NMF’s can choose from.
they get to choose 1[ONE] from EACH bucket
Bucket # 1-
a colleges OFFICIAL NM award- like UTDs $3000 award or USCs $4000 [ 1K pre year award] etc, whcih are offered to kids who enroll at a NM sponsoring college [and who notify NMC that the college is their first choice]
OR
NM’s one time direct $2500 award [ offered to about 2400 tippy top NMSF’s. ]
[Students can use the $2500 at any college. Most seem to go to students who end up at HYPS, etc, etc.]
The above $$ are paid through NMC.
Bucket #2
A CORPORATE NM scholarship - offered to students whose parents work at NM sponsoring corporation .
OR
a COLLEGE NM scholarship [such as UTD’s full tuition scholarship or USC’s 1/2 tuition scholarship] - that are given to NMF’s who notify NMC that the college is their first choice and enroll there].
The above $$ comes directly from the corporation or the college.
Understand? ONE from EACH bucket.
a student CAN’T receive both the $2500 NM direct award AND the UTD $3000 award.
a student CAN’T receive BOTH a corporate scholarship AND a LARGE scholarship - like UTD’s or USC’s tuition scholarships -awarded by the college to NMF’s.
I m not confused.
My son finally enrolled in UMD which is a college that is a sponsor(they are there on the list of sponsors).My son also changed his first choice on NM website from undecided to UMD. When I called the UMD fin aid today they said they do not offer any money for the NMF s…if NMC offers an award that can be directed to the fin aid office.Are there any other NMFs going to UMD…and is this what you have been told too?
@priya2015 there is no notification on UMD’d website that they offer NM scholarships.
https://www.financialaid.umd.edu/scholarships/merit.html
Perhaps they stopped being a sponsor this year??
I’d call NMC and see if UMD is a current sponsor.
@menloparkmom your buckets descriptions really explains my confusion.
thanks, I m not confused anymore!
I’m copying your 2 buckets post and posted later for 2019 National Merit Finalist Thread*
@menloparkmom , I just got off the phone with Robin at NMSC (847-886-5100). I was told that anyone offered an official scholarship from NMSC will only be offered one scholarship. It could be the NMSC $2500 scholarship, a corporate scholarship, or one of the smaller $1-4K school-sponsored scholarships, Students can accept the scholarship they are offered as well as one of the large 1/2 tuition or full tuition scholarships offered by schools like UTD, Texas A&M, Baylor, USC, etc… I specifically asked if accepting a corporate scholarship puts the larger university scholarships at risk and was told that it wil not. NMSC encourages students to take the larger scholarship, regardless of the type of NMSC scholarship they are offered.
My interpretation of this is that there is only one National Merit bucket, and the larger scholarships offered to students because of their NMF status are completely separate and not at risk.
@menloparkmom …just called NMC…and UMD is a current sponsor.Guess I need to call UMD back
@priya2015 - Also send an email so you have something in writing. Good luck!
@kcheves - Your post is correct. Thanks for calling and verifying.
I stand corrected.
thanks for the clarification.
So, to finalize, with the UTD example. An NMF who lists UTD as first choice with NMSC will receive a total scholarship package that is very close to a full ride no matter which NM scholarship is offered (corporation-sponsored, college-sponsored, or NMSC direct). The UTD package, as listed in the financial aid portal, consists of multiple scholarships including one separate line item for the official National Merit portion of the award. My son received the college-sponsored NM award, which is $3k spread out over eight semesters. His full scholarship package is broken down as follows, for each semester (in state, so numbers will be different for OOS students):
Tuition & fees: $6264 estimated (listed as estimates in case of tuition or fee increase)
Housing: $1500
Stipend: $4000
NM college sponsored (exact wording, this is the official part): $375
Adding in the $6k study abroad stipend, his scholarship value over eight semesters will be about $103k (more if tuition increases, since the scholarship is worded to cover full tuition).
If he had received a $2500 NMSC award, the first three line items listed above would have been exactly the same, as would the study abroad stipend. His total scholarship value in that case would have been about $102.5k ($2500 vs $3000 for the official NM portion)
H used to work for a company that sponsored NM scholarships, at $1k per year renewable for four years. If H still worked at that company S might have received that NM scholarship, for a total of $4k. That would have put his total undergrad scholarship at about $104k ($4k vs $3k for the official NM portion).
Under no circumstances would his nearly-full-ride have been in jeopardy because of the type of official NM award he was offered.
Note that only one type of NM award can be received. If H still worked at the NM sponsor company and S were at the tippy top of the NMF pool such that he qualified for a $2500 NMSC award, he would not be offered three awards; he would get only one offer. So his official NM scholarship would never be more than $4k.
As I said earlier, I have yet to read about an official NM award that is more than $5k total. All the large scholarship packages (UTD, UCF, UNM, Texas Tech, OU, OSU, etc) have the lion’s share of the award separate from the “official NM” piece. No student who accepts a corporation-sponsored or NMSC-sponsored award is in danger of losing full tuition or a full ride at the schools that offer those benefits. The only way for an NMF to lose out on those is if he or she doesn’t list that school as first choice with NMSC.
Congrats to all. Wondering from newB 2019 whether anyone has any feelings on whether 227psat/215 (SI) SAT from small ACT state has chance of scholarship State Debate and Swim Champion ? ACT 35 , SAT from freshman year (not real interested in retake)
@RW1 obviously your DC will make SF. Confirming SATs need to be taken within a two year window of the PSAT test date so double check that SAT date. You can look at this year’s dates and roll forward a year to get an idea. The SI is definitely OK.
The big bucks come directly from the colleges themselves so spend this summer looking into that.
@RW1,
what is your state? we need to know that in order to give you an idea of the likelihood of NMSF status.
He SHOULD take the SAT again because his score will go up considerably, and that CAN’T hurt in the hunt for NM scholarships, or others scholarships awarded to top scorers…
A 227 PSAT should be safe pretty much anywhere.
Just checked the rules for the confirming SAT score. For the 2018 contest that SAT needed to be taken sometime between October 2015 and December 2017. Therefore, the 2019 contest will require a confirming score from an SAT taken between October 2016 and December 2018. As long as @RW1’s DC took the SAT in October 16 or later, he/she should be fine. A 215 is clearly above the Commended SI of 212 and the confirming score won’t go above Commended.
Even at the very highest cutoff (American students in international locations) a 227 is definitely safe for NMSF.
WOW! you guys are awsome! Thanks so much UTAH SAT 8/17( SI 215) 1410 740/670…good enough but sounds like retake in order. 
.Still wonder if anyone in ball park of 35 ACT 4.0/4.0 uw 4.48 wt 9 AP all 5s 227(1510)/215(1410) SBO, pub research, cap swim /debate. 1st place state swim debate… got scholarship/got rejected?
."Still wonder if anyone in ball park of 35 ACT 4.0/4.0 uw 4.48 wt 9 AP all 5s 227(1510)/215(1410) SBO, pub research, cap swim /debate. 1st place state swim debate… got scholarship/got rejected? "
got rejected from where?
At some of THESE colleges those scores will get her an automatic acceptance AND a scholarship…[ check with the college websites as this list may be somewhat out of date]
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
here’s a listing of competitive- hard to get scholarships.
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/
BUT at the most selective colleges- ivies, MIT, Stanford, etc, there are THOUSANDS of kids with similar stats that are rejected- SIMPLY because there are thousands of other applicants with similar stats applying for too few spots.
So build your college list from the GROUND UP. that means find the safeties first- colleges that will automatically accept your child, or those with acceptance rates above 50%.
Find the safeties where he/ she will be happy to go, AND that you can afford.
PAY ATTENTION to REQUIRED application deadlines for scholarships. MANY colleges have them.
For instance, at
USC, applications MUST be recieved by Dec 1 in order for scholarship consideration for the full tuition scholarships.
Only after that , can she add some applications to reachy-reach super selective colleges.
If she gets into any of THEM it should be considered a gift- not something she “deserves”.
One more word of advise- DON’T encourage your kid into thinking that she/ he is likely to get into ANY highly selective college, or encourage him/ her to “fall in love” with colleges that reject most well qualified students, like your kid.
If you mean “get rejected for National Merit,” don’t worry. That’s not how it works.
If a student meets the bar for PSAT Selection Index and confirming SAT score, then the student will proceed to NMF unless one of the following is true:
- Student does not complete the application (or, very rarely, completes it, but writes a rude essay)
- Student has problems with grades. An A student with the occasional B should be fine. Cs are iffy. Ds are very iffy.
- Student doesn't meet citizenship / residency requirements.
- Student has suspensions, expulsions or other significant disciplinary issues.
Athletics, ECs, volunteer hours and leadership don’t matter.
In short, a student with good grades and no disciplinary issues who makes both required test scores and completes the application will be named NMF.