@usma87 – NMSC recently released its latest Annual Report, and guess which school had the largest number of NMSs in the entire country last year? That’s right, USC at 276. Harvard had 195, and doesn’t give them a penny. Does anyone think Harvard has a cap? No, everyone realizes Harvard is just really, really hard to get into.
I don’t think USC actually discriminates against NMFs due to budget concerns. I actually just think that the scholarship is a throwback to a time when USC was not so highly ranked, and not so hard to get into. Most schools with generous NMF scholarships actively court them, and automatically accept them, but they don’t have 13% (or 10%) acceptance rates. It seems to me that USC neither discriminates against NMFs nor salivates over them, and is therefore an anomaly insofar as they have a generous scholarship while not actively chasing after the credential.
Given their “holistic” admissions approach, it is entirely plausible that some NMFs just organically do not make USC’s cut, just like most NMFs don’t make the cut at the Ivies or other schools with sub 20% acceptance rates. Of course, this has nothing to do with academics, and everything to do with whatever else they happen to be looking for.
These schools could accept NMFs by a multiple of their overall acceptance rates, and still not be close to 100%. If USC takes 60% of NMFs who apply, that still leaves 40% to feel like they got screwed over due to a cap, even though the NMF acceptance rate is 500% of the overall acceptance rate. It’s just hard to believe there is actually a cap when they have more entering NMSs than any other school in the country. Maybe I’m naive, but I believe that they would be transparent and disclose if the number of scholarships were limited, just like they do for their scholarships that actually have a limit.
I don’t know if USC has a cap or not but as they get lots of high achieving Whites and Asians any ways, they often reject national merit candidates as they can get similar candidates for free who didn’t make national merit by few points. Why accept ones who cost a lot instead of ones who pay a lot. They keep the National Merit program as it attracts lot of high achieving students to USC who wouldn’t consider the expense without a catch. It’s just a business tactic which works well.
@NJDad00 - NM Scholar vs NMF. Notre Dame had 400 NMF. They do not participate in the NMSC program, so not sure of the validity of the point. USC is the most selective school that offers a NMF scholarship. I’m sure USC admits a large number. I suspect there is a budget that then leads to a limit on the number they can admit. That is simply an assumption on my part. BTW, Notre Dame offered significantly more than 50% of tuition and COA to my NMF DS.
@Riversider - try again. Look at last year’s demo - 69% of admitted students were students of color. Yes, Asian is included in that (22%), but it is more challenging as a Caucasian to get in than you are assuming.
@usma87 – the point was that USC had more NMSs than anyone else in the country, including some pretty decent schools that aggressively offer full rides to all takers, so I don’t think it’s reasonable to assume there is a budgetary constraint that limits the number of $27,000 tuition discounts a very competitive private school with a COA of $75K is able to offer. The limit on the number they admit is more likely related to their 13% acceptance rate than their reluctance to offer a discount to students they would otherwise love to have.
I’m not sure where the Notre Dame 400 NMF number comes from, or why Notre Dame would value publishing it if they do not participate in the program. Congratulations to your DS at Notre Dame, and Notre Dame’s generosity in funding NMFs outside the NMSC program, but what does that have to do with USC imposing an unpublished limit on its NMS program? Is the point that if they did participate, they’d be the number one NMS school in the country? If so, then great, but they don’t and they’re not!
My point was not that USC is great, or better than Notre Dame, because it has a lot of NMSs. It was that it is not logical to opine, based on nothing more than a “suspicion,” that USC imposes a limit when it has more NMSs than any other school in the country, when a more likely cause is found in its relatively low acceptance rate. As I said before, if USC accepted 65% of its NMF applicants, which would be 5x its overall rate, that would still leave 35% rejected, and not necessarily have anything to do with not having the budget to offer a discount. I’m pretty sure that the limit has nothing to do with money, and everything to do with their simply not wanting to admit more because, with a 13% admit rate, they have the luxury of looking for things beyond that credential.
Timing update: corporate-sponsored award winners have been notified. My daughter got her letter that she won today (my husband works for a sponsor company.) Still waiting on six admission decisions so we don’t know where it will be applied yet. Very happy and proud here in NYC!
Good luck to all!
Congrats @sallycat ! Based on status reports from previous years, I’m hoping that the portal is updated to indicate the $2500 winners next Thursday the 21st.
@NJDad00 - good points. ND does not publish the NMF admittance figure. It was part of their admitted student weekend “Here is your class stats” presentation. And your point is well taken, USC generally admits around 200 NMF to become NMS. Last year it was a shock to me that the NMF carried less weight in the admissions process. I finally realized its just a scholarship, not a resume enhancement.
@ThinkOn what portal? Where will it be updated? @usma87 do you think that schools that give a certain number of merit Scholars will take it’s too (#) candidates and make them the scholars? Is gat how it works? Or does The National Merit organization name you a scholar? It’s confusing to me.
@catmomof3 - I have no idea if school’s limit the number of NM Scholars. The differentiation is the student is named a NM Finalist based on scores and grades. If they win the $2500, they are a Scholar. Also, with the caveat that I may be using the term incorrectly, a NM Finalist that attends a school that participates in the NMSC scholarship and accepts the NMSC scholarship, that student is now a NM Scholar. It can be confusing, but I think this is how it works.
@ usmail87 I think that is correct. I looked on UCF website–if you get a NM Corp, NMSC, or accept a college-sponsored NM award, then you are considered a scholar.
@catmomof3 I think it’s the portal where they submitted their applications at the very beginning of this process. No direct experience, just basing it off posts from previous years where all indicated that they logged into the OSA National Merit portal to find out their status.
IMHO, once you get past $$s, there is no real distinction (other than perhaps personal pride) of Finalist vs. Scholar. And frankly, once you get past college applications, it won’t ever go on your resume again.
