<p>I'm a National Merit Finalist. My first choice school doesn't offer a scholarship, but many other schools I may go to do. What's the best strategy for getting a scholarship? I know even a little could really help out my family, but it seems like a guessing game since I don't know what school I'll be attending.</p>
<p>Should I tell NMSF my real first choice school, even though the school doesn't give aid? (Does this increase your chances of a non-school-sponsered scholarship?)</p>
<p>Or should I just tell tell that I'm "undecided" until I choose a college?</p>
<p>Keep it as undecided. You don't have to designate your #1 choice until later (when most scholarships are being weighed). You can also change it at the last minute if you want.</p>
<p>We were delaying my son's choice until his admissions letters arrived, and even ignored a memo urging him to fax NMSC a tentative choice. Then he got a call from a NMSC rep, who said that he was being considered for a scholarship, (a corporate one, it turns out) and they couldn't start processing it until they had a college listed. When I pointed out that this might do him out of a scholarship at another school, she was sympathetic, but he still had to list a choice. She pointed out that most schools offer finalists scholarships, even if not recieving the official institutional Nat'l Merit scholarship for that school. What a game!</p>