***2018 National Merit Finalist Thread****

@enm185 Yes, sorry but I believe the deadline to accept the scholarship has passed, and there is no second round.

@DavidPuddy – here are the answers to your questions:

  1. She hasn't accepted it yet (most likely will but we've been busy lately!)
  2. No change, we'll see what happens after she accepts it
  3. Not that I know of. I think this is all due to the college acceptance deadline passing

Hi,

From the best I could tell, looks like the 2500$ scholarship winners are released. Where do I find the list? We are from Texas.

Thanks

Hi,

I got offered the USC 1k a year national merit scholarship through the national merit site. However, I will be attending another school. If I decline this offer will I still be considered a national merit scholar? If not, if i accept the offer and do not go to USC will I still be a national merit scholar?

you will ONLY be considered a NM Scholar IF you go to a college , like USC, that sponsors National Merit Scholarship Corp AND you notify NM -very soon- that that college you will be attending IS your first choice.
You can ONLY “accept” the 1K offer from USC if you go to USC.

@clemsongrad The NMSC provided the names to the news media, per this release:

I guess we just have to wait and see who publishes it in each state, county, etc. to find out who actually made it.

You’re a scholar if you are offered and accept any of the there types of official scholarships that are awarded through NMSC. This includes a school scholarship from a sponsoring university (like the $1K USC award), a $2500 scholarship funded by NMSC, or a corporate NM schoalrship. You need to enroll at an accredited college or university, but it does not need to be a NM sponsoring school.

$2500 scholars starting to show up in google top stories

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=national+merit+%242500+scholars

@ccsouth Gosh, that’s such a cool link! ^:)^ Thanks for sharing! Also, yes, it appears the names of the scholarship winners are gradually going out on news media. Congrats to all the scholars!

Does NMSC send letters out to those that were not chosen to let them know the process is complete?

^no

Interestingly enough @planner03 , in Informed Delivery today I see a letter for my son from NMSC. I have checked his portal and no scholarship notifications. Perhaps this is just written confirmation of the school selection he processed online a couple weeks ago.

Winners were notified from NM about 6 weeks ago and told that the info was also sent to your high school and 1st choice university. They also asked that you keep quiet about it for 6 weeks, until 5/9 at which time press releases would be made to your local news media.

I find it interesting that the news media has made a bigger deal about Semi-Finalists than winners, at least in my area.

So, if you didn’t get a letter from them six weeks ago, you most likely did not win.

Can someone post the winners from Texas?

@vistajay Yes, that is why I was curious, I saw in Informed Delivery as well. My S did not receive anything either, nor did he even select a school so it must be some sort of “sorry got nothing for you, good luck” letter.

I got curious when I saw the NMSC letter via informed delivery but it was merely a “sorry, you were not a winner, thanks for playing” letter.

Texas $2500 winners: http://www.thesismag.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/17-National-Merit-Winners.pdf

^ That was last year’s.

@kcheves So sorry! I thought that was it. My bad.

@BrianBoiler “I find it interesting that the news media has made a bigger deal about Semi-Finalists than winners, at least in my area.”

Reaching semifinalists status means a student has at the very least tested to commended level (some states have commended as cutoff.) That’s a remarkable achievement. Reaching finalist status is merely confirming that score on the SAT and filling out paperwork. A student choosing the ACT and applying to colleges where NM isn’t a factor is a reasonable course of action. Opinions may vary, but I don’t see becoming a finalist nearly as remarkable as becoming a semifinalist. Becoming a NMSC Scholar could be because a semifinalist’s parent works at a particular company. Or because a student attends a college that recruits finalists, but is generally less ‘elite’. Neither of those reasons for becoming a scholar are remarkable achievements, and certainly not as remarkable as achieving semifinalist status. Students who are chosen strictly for their application have made a wonderful achievement, but they are included in a pool that is non-remarkable.

Is it unreasonable to be more impressed with a semifinalist from NJ or DC than a NMSC Scholar from a “211 state” whose mom works for a sponsoring company? I’m not disparaging any student, and I believe NMSC does the best it can to remain a national competition while drawing sponsors from all regions.