Finalist daughter from Ny here. I don’t understand the designating the first choice college business. It seems only one college on her list gives significant merit ($30,000) for NMF if it is your first choice. However, that college is not her actual first choice. A different college is her first choice and if they give her a $30k merit scholarship (which they do for a handful of kids), then she would go there.
@silverpurple only schools that give NM scholarships see the list of “first choice” schools. Have her list the school that gives NM scholarships. The NM first choice list is not binding in anyway.
I am sorry if this has been asked before. I need to send my sons “confirming” score to NMSC. Do I need to have any other information when I send it? Or just go to ACT and find the NMSC number, pay the $13 and send? Thank you in advance!
@Johnsonmama I sent exactly as you have described. Nothing else was needed.
When do we start getting concerned if our GC hasn’t submitted the application to NMSC? Ours has a pattern of letting things slide and needing a follow-up email from me but I don’t want to be a pest. It’s still somewhat early but I think I’m going to need to do something next week. We haven’t heard from the GC yet other than to give us the info to do the student portion of the application.
GC has until the 8th, I believe. Plenty of time yet.
I believe it is Oct 9.
https://nationalmerit.imodules.com/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/merit_r_i_leaflet.pdf
So, if you haven’t heard from the GC and you know the application hasn’t been submitted, at what point would you contact the GC? I’m worried ours will forget.
I would send an email when the student section is done and then follow-up 3 days before the due date. If no response to the emails, I would then call daily to “see if she needs anything more” or have your student stop in if that works in their class schedule. Let her know you both are “so excited about the scholarships” if you are planning on that. She may not realize the $$s at stake.
I’d give it until the 7th and be very friendly about it. NMSC has been known to be very understanding when GC’s miss deadlines.
I might say something like, “I’m sure you’ve already taken care of this because I know you understand how important this is <student’s name=”"> but our portal says they haven’t received the schools portion of the application yet. Since the deadline is 10/9, is there anyway you can check on your end to make sure they’ve got it?" </student’s>
The University of Oklahoma has added a $5500 first year housing scholarship to their National Merit Finalist package. Both of our Ds are at OU as NMFs. (D16, D19) OU doesn’t offer the most dollars in their package, but we have found that the campus and university offer many opportunities and intangibles that you can’t put a price tag on. If your budget allows you some flexibility with the college choice for your D or S, I would encourage you to visit. 
@WImom94 I hadn’t realized that OU just upped their NM scholarship. I just confirmed and obviously you’re correct. We live in Oklahoma so OU and OSU are attractive options but I’m struggling to understand the intangibles that would justify the $30k incremental cost to a full ride option. Are those intangibles special perks or more culture? Any insight you could share would be helpful for me. Thanks.
Hi @CincoDad For our Ds, there were several things that made OU the best fit for them. The honors college and related experiences have been great. The Honors at Oxford 3 week summer program is a unique and amazing learning opportunity. Both our girls have enjoyed the various book clubs offered each semester. They are student run, with dozens of titles to choose from and books are provided at no charge. Both of our girls love the small school feel of the honors college with all of the benefits of being at a big university. The various clubs and activities to choose from are endless. Getting home from OU is easier and quicker than it would be from some of the other big money school options. Additionally, our girls wanted a school with plenty of tradition, school spirit and pride. (As you know, OU clearly has that!) One new option that was available to our D19 was the opportunity to live in Headington Residential College as a freshman - it is amazing!! As the mom, I was initially impressed and have continued to be impressed with the genuine care and kindness that faculty and staff show to students. Being so far away from home, it was important to me that our Ds felt like they were surrounded by good people looking out for them. One more thing that has been a bonus, though we didn’t realize it at the time, was the reasonable rent costs in the area should students choose to live off campus after freshman year. The price, quality and amenities offered far exceed those that I have heard about in other college towns. I don’t know if all of this adds up to $30,000 in value to justify choosing OU over somewhere else that offers a full COA option. I can understand the appeal of seeking out the packages with the highest dollar amount, but for our girls, knowing they had college accounts to supplement any merit packages they might receive gave them the additional option to seek out schools that were the right overall fit, rather than just “free”. Because you live in the area of OU and OSU, your student may be interested in heading elsewhere. I know there are many great options that would be and are great fits for other students. I guess I just wanted to share that OU is worth serious consideration. Best of luck to your student! This is an exciting time!
just to add my two cent to @WImom94 's post. My DD16 is in her senior year at OU as a NMF and she had some great opportunities because of her NM status including the freshmen research experience program. This was a great program and led to paying research assistant-ships. Our DD has had travel abroad opportunities too both with a paying summer internship in Germany and a semester exchange program in Germany.
She’s been very happy at OU and has been awarded several departmental scholarships and professional scholarship which I strongly suspect her NM status gave her an edge. Between her various research positions and additional scholarships, she’s pretty much covered 100% of her college expenses so far.
OU has also been very generous with AP and DE credit, so much that she will be graduating this December (a semester early) with Honors, a BS in Meteorology and minors in Math and Comp Sci. Although she decided against perusing a music minor she’s still been able to continue with harp as a non major on a college level at OU.
One more thing off the college to do list! The application has been submitted to the GC.
@Cheeringsection
It feels good, doesn’t it? DS app is all done as well including the recommendation part. He also submitted a few college applications. We are getting there …
@mathKids did you receive an email when the counselor piece was finished or did you keep logging on and checking?
We toured USC last week. Despite the wording on their website about NMF scholarships being limited, they said that it was an automatic 50% of tuition if you list USC as your first choice. I don’t believe there are any additional benefits (housing, priority registration, etc) for a NMF to attend USC. Someone correct me if I am wrong.
@lkg4answers I think thing to remember about USC is that it’s not an auto admit for NMF as many schools are so some people take that to mean not every NMF at USC gets the scholarship instead of not every NMF that lists USC as #1 is accepted.
@mathkids yes, it does feel good to have something off the list. I think my DD20 was having a hard time declaring it “done” so we have been encouraging her that it is for 3-4 days now. We did a little drumroll and cheered when she hit submit. Hopefully she will want more of that good feeling with some applications soon.
Thanks @3scoutsmom yes I understand that USC is not an auto admit for NMF.