<p>Oh, and congratulations to your Ds and you, stowmom & Hindoo!!!</p>
<p>Brandon's mom--As soon as my daughter opened her letter, I zipped off an e-mail to her GC. Just thought she might be interested.</p>
<p>LOL, Hindoo - she SHOULD be interested, shouldn't she? </p>
<p>Isn't it amazing how some schools are so prompt to notify their students, and so proud as to make a big deal of it? And others stealthily and quietly notify their students at the last minute, almost like they don't want anyone else to know?</p>
<p>I found this discussion a few days ago when searching for information about National Merit Finalists, and it was comforting to know I wasn't the only anxious parent waiting for word from the school or in the mail. If you're like me, you worry about being labeled a helicopter parent so I hesitate to call or email the school. We still haven't received anything official. I finally had my child ask the guidance counselor yesterday and they were told, "Oh yeah, you made it to the next level." Apparently they don't realize that many public universities give full ride scholarships for finalist standing which is worth much more than the NM scholarship of $2500. However, you can receive both scholarships - my older child was named a NM scholar, too. Some schools do figure in the $2500 for their total scholarship and so it doesn't raise the overall dollar figure, but is a nice honor and saves the school a little. The first time I went through this, we didn't quite understand how all of this works and we are still a little confused on some points but I decided to write in - maybe our experience a few years back will help.</p>
<p>It IS amazing! With my daughter's school, I place the blame and apparent lack of interest directly on the strapping shoulders of our principal. He's a former football coach who's made it extremely clear in the three years he's been with the school, what his priorities are. And I assure you, they're not academics. I've been disgusted with this guy since Day 1, when he spoke at an honors ceremony while chomping on a big wad of gum.</p>
<p>Thanks, FloridaPearl. You are right, it is very comforting to know there are other parents out there who feel the same way. </p>
<p>I'm a CPA, so I've been playing around with figures. If your family is in the 15% tax bracket, a school that offers your NMF kid $20,000 per year, you'd have to earn close to $26,000 per year if you're employed by someone else; and almost $29,000 per year if you're self-employed. And that's without figuring in state income tax. So a $20K scholarship every year for 4 years is worth anywhere from $104,000 to $116,000. That's a LOT of $. </p>
<p>So . . . a good reason to be very anxious.</p>
<p>Brandon's Mom - since you are a CPA, you must be pretty busy right now. I'm sure you're aware of this, but your CPA title reminded me of a situation we have with our older child: If your children receive more scholarship $ than the costs, they have to pay income tax on the difference. Make sure your children know to keep track of their book expenses or other school related costs that might not be part of their school records.</p>
<p>Absolutely, Florida Pearl, I AM quite busy, but this issue w/NMF has been very distracting. Now that it's settled, I won't be frequenting these boards as much, but will most definitely be lurking from time to time.</p>
<p>And you're totally correct on the income tax & scholarships. Tuition, fees that you MUST pay to attend the school, supplies, books, and equipment required for courses are qualified education expenses and are deductible from the scholarships. Anything received over and above those costs is considered income. </p>
<p>But still . . . it's better than paying it out yourself, eh? </p>
<p>Thanks for tipping off everyone. (I should have done so - <em>smacks self in the head</em>).</p>
<p>I received my letter today in the mail. I am so relieved. My NM status has been in the back of my mind all year and it's so good to be done with this. Not suprisingly I have heard nothing from my school yet though.</p>
<p>Congratulations, TangyTart! Hopefully, your school will recognize you properly, and soon. I'm hoping the same for my daughter.</p>
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I received my letter today in the mail. I am so relieved. My NM status has been in the back of my mind all year and it's so good to be done with this. Not suprisingly I have heard nothing from my school yet though.
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</p>
<p>I finally got mine in the mail today too!!!
No thanks to my school.</p>
<p>We are feeling lonely here in Missouri. No notice from school. No notice in the mail. I would be worried but there are 20 semi-finalists from our two schools, and no one else has heard either. Now I'm annoyed I didn't call the school today.</p>
<p>Good luck! The letter will probably arrive tomorrow.</p>
<p>Her letter arrived today. We're in California. We still haven't heard from her school, but the Principal was sick yesterday.</p>
<p>Congratulations to this year's National Merit finalists!</p>
<p>(last year my daughter got a yard sign from her school - made a refreshing change from the "Home of a Football Player" signs)</p>
<p>Fireflyscout, that's a wonderful idea! We have the football player signs, too. The only time my D will get a sign is if we buy one at the end of the year saying "home of 2007 gradutate". If she is lucky she will get her picture in the local paper again. They did when the semi-finalist were announced. But I love the yard sign idea.</p>
<p>He got the letter in the mail yesterday. At a meeting Thursday night I asked an administrator if the school had received the notifications yet. She said they had come in earlier in the week and she gave everything to one of the counselors, but she couldn't remember which one. When I asked if all the semi-finalists had advanced (we had 20+ semi's) she said she had no idea because she didn't check. Sometimes I get very frustrated with these people. </p>
<p>Congratulations to every one who made it.</p>
<p>D received her letter from NMSC today in the mail. Yay! (We're in New York.) Congrats to all the new finalists!</p>
<p>I've been so anxious for the past month, and I finally got my letter today! Congratulations to all you who made it!
(I've been bouncing around the house in joy since the mail came. My mother wonders if I would have been so excited about turkey for lunch if I hadn't gotten that letter...)</p>
<p>That means it only takes 3 days for sending the letter. The school should receive that no later than Feb 6.</p>