<p>My online portal is displaying notification for the 2500 one-time scholarship, fyi.</p>
<p>^the $2500 one</p>
<p>Portal just said after login…</p>
<p>Application Submitted</p>
<p>Your student has submitted his or her application to the high school and you no longer have the option to view the PDF. Please refer any questions to your school or contact NMSC by phone (847) 866-5162 between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Central Time.</p>
<p>View the Competition Instructions</p>
<hr>
<p>Hope it is just yet to update.</p>
<p>My son got the one-time 2500 dollar award (the National Merit Award). We read it on his NM OSA portal yesterday at 12:30 pm (they went up at noon). It mentioned State Farm on the letter, so I called NM to get more info. They said that many of their one-time $2500 scholarships are underwritten by a corporation; in my son’s case, it was State Farm. However, it was the one-time award and not the corporate award (since neither me nor his dad work for a corporation on the NM list). We are so happy, because his college does not link up w/ NM, so this was his only chance to get a NM monetary award. Good luck to all of you!</p>
<p>Do NM finalists receive some notification from NMSC that they have not been awarded the $2500 scholarship?</p>
<p>Thanks much everyone for the info - just logged in for my son and he also got one of the $2500 scholarships! His doesn’t specify a corporation or anything else. Since he skipped senior year and is currently at MIT (which of course doesn’t do anything for NMF’s), it’s a nice bonus!</p>
<p>Drw4taww, I asked the NM people that question on the phone. They said that if you do not receive the notification in your OSA portal and do not receive the snail mail letter (sent out by NM on 3/28), then most likely you did not get the $2500 one-time award. They will send a letter later saying that you did not receive the award, but that letter is not sent out until early May. They wait until May because occasionally someone does not accept their award, and then they take people off of the “waiting list”, so your child could theoretically not have the notification right now but then be offered the award in April or early May. I’d guess that this does not happen to many people, but I really don’t know the numbers.</p>
<p>Bummer - Son did not get it.</p>
<p>Thanks jennieling. Looks like D didn’t get the $2500 NM scholarship based on looking on the OSA website. But she did get the NMF scholarship from U Alabama. We’re happy about that!</p>
<p>Got the $2500 National Merit Scholarship! Good luck everyone :)</p>
<p>Is the one time $2500 National Merit Scholarship given to 2500 students the most difficult to get?</p>
<p>I thought it was given to more than 2500 students?</p>
<p>There are 2500 of the $2500 NMSC scholarships awarded - that is correct.</p>
<p>As to whether it is the most difficult to win … It’s very selective, but to get the college-sponsored awards at some highly selective colleges like U of Chicago may be more difficult since you have to be admitted. Also the awards are prorated to the states like the semifinalists are, so winning one from New Jersey is much more difficult than from Montana.</p>
<p>So is the $2500 also given out within pools such as the New England Boarding school pool? Or are the boarding students considered within their own home state’s pool?</p>
<p>drw4taww, congrats to your daughter on getting the NMF scholarship from U of Alabama! We have heard that it is a very generous one. One girl from my son’s mid-Missouri HS started at Alabama 2 yrs ago with the NM scholarship, and she just loves the college! Also, I meant to add that the NM lady (on the phone) told me that a student can only get 1 of the 3 types of scholarships, and if they are “up” for 2 or 3 (ie made the cut for the $2500 one, decided by a committee of teachers, AND got the college-associated one and/or the corporate one), then NM decides on the one that the student will get. The student can not make the decision. HOwever, the NM lady told me that they pick the one that will give the student the greatest amount of money (usually college or corporate).</p>
<p>What I DON"T know is whether: a) a kid in the above scenario would find out that he/she was chosen by the teacher committee for the $2400 one-time scholarship and also got the college one, and then NM decide to just give the kid the college-associated one (because it is more money)—or b) the kid never learn that he/she was chosen for the $2500 one-time scholarship because NM decided to give him/her the college one instead (because it’s more money). I think it would be nice for the kid to know that he/she was selected as one of the top 2500, even if NM then decided to give him/her the college-associated (or corporate) one instead. But she did make it quite clear that a kid can only get one of the three, and that NM decides. ONE exception: the big “full-ride” colleges (eg OK, Alabama, Auburn, etc), where the scholarship is given by the college to a NMF, but it is separate from the NM college-associated ones, which are usually just around 2k/yr. She said that kids can get one of those big “full-ride” types from one of those few colleges that give them to NMF’s AND get 1 (but just 1 of the 3) NM award (eg one-time, college, or corporate) if they do indeed win the latter. Of course, only about half (8300) of the finalists get a NM award.</p>
<p>The $2500 NMSC scholarships are prorated the same way as the semifinalists, so as I understand it boarding school students would be a separate pool from the states.</p>
<p>So…if after logging in today (Sunday) the main menu doesn’t show a congratulatory note, don’t expect a letter of any kind until May?</p>
<p>My college awarded me 2K per year for being Finalist. Will that mean I will not receive any more scholarship from NMSC? I logged in to my NMS account and Main Menu has nothing about the scholarship.</p>
<p>So has anyone gotten the one time 2500 and has a 1st choice college listed?</p>
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<p>You can only receive one official National Merit scholarship (NMSC, Corporate, or college).</p>