<p>NMSF, USC listed as first choice, received acceptance today! too excited for words! havent received scholarship info yet...</p>
<p>What cool news to put into your first cc post, eroodzen. Congratulations.</p>
<p>As I'm sure you all know (but I'll repeat anyway--heh), USC's Trustee and Presidential scholarships (much the same as acceptance to ivies) are not simply guaranteed to those with the highest GPA or SAT or whatever. The decisions are made holistically, candidates are selected by the admissions teams in each specific School and major, and so top students will undoubtedly be competing directly for the invitation to interview with other applicants in their chosen major for the few spots. If you look at the stats only page, there is some variety to the stats and that is because special talents, essays and letters of rec are looked at very closely by the major department. In the School of Cinematic Arts (my S's school), they said they look at the supplement's personal statement for leaders with fresh voices in the field, so at some level GPA and the like get you into contention, but some other qualities may take you all the way.</p>
<p>To all the fabulous students hanging around cc and waiting to hear about scholarships at USC as well as admission in general to all the most selective universities, you may need to get slightly thicker skin. It is really no disrespect to you when your application gets passed up (although it can be painful to be sure), because there are so many more great applicants than there are free (or half-free) rides. </p>
<p>I usually sign off my posts with "good luck" because I know that after all the hard work you've put in through your high school careers, and all your successes and achievements, you all really deserve the best rewards. And I always figure a little luck can't hurt.</p>
<p>"There can be duplication - some NMSF's are invited to interview for Trustee or Pres. awards. Some people have recommended that even a NMF should accept a Presidential interview invitation because of the chance they might upgrade the student to a Trustee scholarship based on the interview."
That is what happened to my son. He was invited to interview for the Presidential scholarship, even though he was a NMSF. He decided to go and then received a letter notifying us that he was a Trustee scholar! When he found that out, you could have knocked us all over with a feather!</p>
<p>Our S, NMSF, received a large envelope today, will let him open, but I did check the web site and was allowed to register for Explore session - so I assume admitted but no mention of Trustee or Presidential invite.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if USC has a deadline, prior to NMC's, for listing them as first choice for the NMF scholarship? Another school we're looking at specifically offers their best NMF scholarships to those who list them as 1st choice in time to appear on the first roster sent to them on March 1.</p>
<p>Also, does the half tuition NMF scholarship at USC increase as tuition increases?</p>
<p>Forgot to mention S's first choice school has been undecided so far</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I've heard from FauxNom that a student has some time (well into April I believe) to list USC as first choice. Maybe she or another here will confirm.</p></li>
<li><p>Both Presidential (half-tuition) and Trustee (full tuition) increase each year as tuition increases.</p></li>
<li><p>Congratulations!</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Twincities: If you can afford it, I really hope you will consider having your son re-visit the schools he is most interested in to put down for "first choice". I suggest paying very close attention to which school has the best program and gives the most AP credits (if that is important to you). My son put down USC as his "first choice" right in the beginning so I am sorry that I can't help you answer your other question about timing first choice.</p>
<p>My daughter put USC as first choice when she was first nominated back in Sept. Following her counselor, she left her first choice empty but somehow USC still had it in the system that USC is her first choice. She never had to change it for March time frame.</p>
<p>I think the deadline last year for the National Merit designation was May 1. My son did the designation after the decisions came in, so I know it was in April. You can change your #1 designation, but the problem is that you forfeit the chance to change it once your then-number 1 school offers you what is technically a NM scholarship. So if TwinCities' son did the number 1 designation for the March 1 school, it could be "the final answer" if that school awards a scholarship. Sooo, if he thinks USC is the likely #1, he should perhaps wait. </p>
<p>As far as being able to sign up for an explore USC session, I recall that last year the scholarship interviews happened on certain dates, and you could tell if you were presidential or trustee based on the dates that were offered. But it didn't necessarily say it was for trustee or presidential - you had to look somewhere else to get the dates for each. So if the website is offering some dates, I wouldn't rule out the chance your S is being offered an interview. It would be unusual to receive acceptance this early without being in the running for a big scholarship.</p>
<p>Here's what I found for Explore USC dates for this year (on the Viterbi website, which recruits kids to host visitors):</p>
<p>Scholarship Finalists (all overnight programs)
Monday - February 23
Thursday - February 26
Monday - March 2
Thursday - March 5
Monday - March 9</p>
<p>All Admits
Thursday - April 2
Monday - April 6
Monday - April 13
Thursday - April 16
Monday - April 20
Thursday - April 23</p>
<p>If it's like last year, the first two dates will be for Trustee, and the next three for Presidential. So which dates are being offered to your son, TwinCities?</p>
<p>NMSF, accepted!!! No word yet on scholarships though :( </p>
<p>So is the word yet to designate or not designate? Will that help in getting scholarships?
I'm so confused by all this NMSF and NMF business..</p>
<p>My understanding last year (and I don't know if this changed for this year) is if you are a National Merit Finalist, and are accepted to USC, and you put down USC as your first choice university on the National Merit Corp. form, then you get the presidential half tuition scholarship. If USC is your first choice, why delay putting it down as your first choice university? If USC is not your first choice, or you are undecided, then figure out which university is your first choice. I don't understand why some people on this forum on procrastinating their decision. If you are undecided, then go visit the schools at the top of your list and make a decision to inform the National Merit Corp.</p>
<p>mdcissp, it may be a strategic decision to delay putting down the first choice school. Some universities have deadlines, and use your 1st choice listing as a show of interest which they weigh in their admissions decisions. Since all adcoms from various schools can check a student's NMF preference, it actually shows "less love" to the non-1st choice and may hurt one's chances with those schools. And at this point, not every student has made up their mind. If they want to see all their choices before they decide, why not? It's an important decision.</p>
<p>As has been stated here, USC will award the 1/2 tuition Presidential to any NMF who lists USC as 1st choice by approx May 1. That means they have a little time to see all their options and make the right choice. I would advise my own S to take his time and weigh acceptances, finaid (if any) and merit awards before making such a big decision.</p>
<p>Madbean--You make an excellent point. This is a great time to re-visit your top choice schools. Given there are over 35,000 applicants this year to USC, I honestly don't know for a fact if it makes a more compelling case that when you put down a particular university as first choice, the school knows you really want to go there and are more likely to be accepted.</p>
<p>I'm a NMSF and just recieved my admissions packet today. Didn't hear anything about scholarships yet, though.</p>
<p>NMSF here. Apparently I'm accepted, since I got a Trustee 'Ship offer. But I haven't even received my acceptance packet yet, which is weird.
Opposite of drumboi, pretty much.</p>
<p>Is it possible that your acceptance package was lost in the mail? It sounds like the acceptance letters come first and then the scholarship interview letters (if you get the interview letter). We have some occasional problems with the mail here.</p>
<p>FauxNom & mdcissp Thanks for the info. We do have a few schools left to visit in Feb, now that we've heard from all applied to. I don't think it us unusual for students to be undecided at this point. Merit aid is factor in the decision for us.</p>
<p>I'm trying to understand the nuances of the National Merit scholarship process to keep our S's options open until he does reach a decision.</p>
<p>As I said before one of the colleges S is accepted to gives their best scholarship to a limited number of NMF's who list them as 1st choice with NMC by the first roster that is sent to colleges on March 1. They do offer smaller scholarships to NMFs who list them later. </p>
<p>NMC does list a schedule for "college-sponsored awards" with the final 1st choice deadline being May 31. There is also wording about an April 29 deadline for changing from one college to another. However, I think that the larger scholarships offered by some colleges may not be the "college-sponsored Merit Scholarship offers" that are described in NMC's information, and therefore can have different rules and deadlines. That's why I'm wondering if USC has their own deadline for listing them as 1st choice. </p>
<p>If a student is undecided I think it is important to try to understand all of details of the available offers. If USC doesn't have it's own earlier deadline, I don't see any reason to list them as first choice right now. If USC saw another college listed as first choice in March, would that disqualify the student for USC's scholarship (assuming that the choice was changed to undecided before April 29 and to USC before May 31?) Perhaps these details are addressed in a mailing we haven't received yet. I'm only going by USC's website. I'm not even sure if the NMF scholarship is an automatic for all NMF's accepted. </p>
<p>Finally, the Explore dates available to us on USC's website were all in April, so I'm still assuming no Trustee or Presidential interview.</p>
<p>I'm an NMF and I didn't get accepted until March. (I'm a freshman, class of 2012.)</p>
<p>NMFs are automatically presidential scholars (<strong>NOT</strong> AUTOMATIC ADMITS, THOUGH!!!). But you must tell the National Merit people your first choice is USC so give them a call if you didn't list USC and you now want to.</p>
<p>In addition, you get $1000 from the National Merit Corp.</p>
<p>Twincities: First, most NMSF become finalists, but not all become finalists. Second, last year (and I don't know if this changed this year), USC gave the presidential scholarship to NMF who wrote down on the National Merit Corp. form that USC is their FIRST CHOICE university. So that you feel more comfortable, I suggest you call USC and ask if there is a deadline prior to the National Merit Corp. deadline for writing down USC as FIRST CHOICE if this is indeed your child's decision. Also, I strongly suggest that you visit USC again before March 1 and the other university your child is interested in before March 1.
Please keep in mind, when you look at these schools, which school has the better program and which school gives the most AP credits/courses. At USC, it is possible to get a maximum of 32 credits from AP exams depending upon high enough scores. This is important to think about because your child might be able to finish in less than 4 years and save money that way. Also, if your child goes to USC, think about sending him to a community college this summer before starting freshman year for classes which count for course credit (and save a lot of money that way as well). I hear that USC gives a lot of financial aid to those who truly qualify. One other thing to consider is that USC has a strong alumni network which helps particularly in this terrible economy. I hope this helps.</p>
<p>The automatic presidential thing is a standard USC thing, it's their policy. :)
Not to get hopes up, but 15000 of the 16000 semi-finalists become finalists. If you did poorly on the SAT (I believe ~2000 is the limit) or have bad grades or a bad disciplinary record, then you may be one of the 1000.</p>
<p>USC</a> Financial Aid - Grants & Scholarships - Undergraduate - Freshmen Only Scholarships</p>
<p>As I said above it is NOT in any way, shape, or form an automatic acceptance; most acceptances (probably 75 - 90%) are sent in March & April. Rejections are last to be sent. Also, USC is becoming more and more selective every year. My class (2012) was the strongest in USC history and that will probably be the case for 2013. The acceptance rate dropped from 25% for 2011 to 21% for 2012.
I'm not trying to scare you, but I also don't want you to get the idea that NMF is an auto-acceptance.</p>
<p>twincities, your plan makes sense. Since your S has already been accepted to USC, you can feel confident that his NMF status entitles him to the Presidential. I can't see a reason to put USC first on the MN paperwork at this point. He's already in at USC, so that won't make a difference there, but putting that other school down by Mar 1 can have impact on that decision. Should he get that award, he'll be able to compare the two schools and see which makes the most sense. </p>
<p>When dealing with merit awards, it can be a little odd. My S was invited to interview at another university for their full-tuition merit award (they were flying him to St. Louis), but very clever ;) USC sent his letter notifying him that he won the Trustee just days before that trip. So this great news allowed him to relax and really imagine himself at USC. When he visited the other school, he could compare it to USC, and although it is an excellent school, it didn't have his unique major, the amazing film school, or so many other extras (honors program, feel of the campus, L.A. weather) that USC had. </p>
<p>Best of luck to your S.</p>