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

Paying for College National Merit Aid
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@3lovingmom it is fine for now to put “undecided”. My DS submitted today as “undecided”. When he did, he got a confirmation from NMSC, and in the confirmation email it has a link to change/update first choice college when he is ready to do so.

You can read the attached for more color. If you find out you are a finalist in February, it looks like it may be a good idea to have identified your first choice and to make sure NM has been notified and update their records before March 1. This apparently is the date they will begin referring finalists to the colleges for scholarship consideration by colleges that are sponsoring NM scholarships. You will then know you are in the “first group” referred to your “first choice” school.

http://nationalmerit.imodules.com/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/merit_r_i_leaflet.pdf

Someone who has been through this please correct if I am misunderstanding the process. My first rodeo.

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Leaving it undecided is fine. Or selecting a college and then changing it later. March 1st is first day that could matter (and you can be undecided after that date too). Look for when the particular college you are interested in needs to see it listed as first choice. And some schools have limited scholarships available for NMFs so being early (when we get to March) may help. But its fine now.

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@Kayak24 Haha It’s nice to know that others are facing similar problems! Have you posted a trip review for UCF? I’m planning I visiting in November for the NMSF event but I’m anxious to gather more opinions.

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Update on USC (Cal), as questions about the NMF scholarship have been asked, I think on this thread.

D18 attended an info session for USC at her HS today. This rep said that the half tuition scholarship is guaranteed for NMFs who are admitted to USC.

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@LOUKYDAD Thank you! I asked my son if he got a link to edit or change first choice of school. He said yes. We’ll keep it in mind.

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Talk me off the ledge, please!

Our district switched to new software that’s supposed to manage everything from transcripts and attendance, to grades and progress reports, to the parent portal. Not just S’s school; the entire district. The new system was supposed to be live a couple of weeks before school started, but it’s not up yet as of today, and the first marking period ended last Friday.

Teachers can’t record grades, progress reports can’t be created or sent, transcripts can’t be accessed or modified, etc. The whole thing is a big mess that starts with the word “cluster.”

As you might imagine, the GCs are completely swamped, tons of work is piling up, and they’re having to deal with frustrated parents (on top of frustrated teachers, administrators, etc.).

In the midst of all of this, our GC has to write S’s recommendation for NMF. She emailed me to ask for a bunch of info, stuff she’d typically have in her computer files if not for the current SNAFU. I was happy to provide everything she asked for.

Here’s what’s got me on the ledge. I told her that this letter wasn’t make or break. I said it was fine to make it fast and easy, it didn’t have to be long or super detailed, and that as long as the letter wasn’t explicitly negative, it wouldn’t keep S from progressing. Grades are fine, no disciplinary issues, so I basically told the GC she could phone it in.

That’s accurate, right? A GC rec that’s positive, but possibly short and a little generic won’t tank a kid, right?

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I think that’s correct, @DiotimaDM. When my D went through this a few years ago, she did not know her GC well - the school is very large and the GC office is understaffed, so I’m sure the rec was positive but generic. D progressed to finalist.

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Thank you, @suzy100. I thought that was the case, that the rec for this was pretty pro forma, but this is my first rodeo so I was worried I’d just torpedoed S’s chances.

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I am a total noob. How many letter of recs are required and who should they be from?

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@kedward only one, and it is by the HS principal or school official designated by the principal. In our case our GC handled this part, so I am not sure if GC or principal actually wrote.

See item #4 on pg 1 here: http://nationalmerit.imodules.com/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/merit_r_i_leaflet.pdf?sessionid=17e4ae02-219b-4f58-ad23-4323a8f4c4e9&cc=1

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Informal poll: did you (or your student, if you’re the parent) put “undecided” or list a college in the first-choice college section of the NMF application?

I’ll start since I posed the question: my son listed UTD because it’s the only school he’s applying to.

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Undecided, as D is applying to two schools that offer large NMF packages (plus other schools).

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@traveler98 same:-) UTD is his one and only.

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Undecided, and will likely remain so until Aprilish.

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Undecided until February or March.

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Undecided; with the thinking that we’ll wait to see where she gets accepted & then make a final decision.

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Undecided, but closer to deciding now that UK has posted their scholarship info. I think he will end up choosing between UK and U of L based on the outcome of his application to U of L’s mentored scholarships and guaranteed entrance to med school programs. Getting into one of those programs plus cost difference (approx $20k net total over 4 years, all in years 3 and 4) would mean U of L over UK. If he doesn’t, then I think he might end up choosing UK. Try to minimize the difference in cost by moving off campus for years 3 and 4, becoming an RA, or graduating a year early.

Alabama and Centre seem to be all but out of the picture when I talk to him, although he has applied to both, already accepted at Alabama.

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My S listed Vanderbilt (which was a bit of news to me!) but I had him change it to undecided for now.

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Undecided till Feb. '17 (she was NMF last year).

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Edited again, here’s the question: are we doing something wrong? D can only fit 2 honors on the app.