Thank you!!
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Congratulations! May I ask which state you are in? We are in New Jersey and haven’t heard anything yet, probably because I am not the principal for my son 
Hi, I am new to this thread and I have a question about naming first choice school. My DD is interested in Boston University (BU) and the results for the program she has applied to there will come out end of March. My D will most likely become NMF (results coming soon). BU gives Presidential Scholarship (25k/yr) to NMF who declare BU as their first choice school by Mar 1.
How should we proceed here? Can we name BU as first choice school to be eligible for Presidential Scholarship and then change it later (like end of March) if she does not get accepted to BU? Are we allowed to do this switching of first choice school? Are there restrictions around this?
I see from some post earlier that there are many knowledgeable parents here. Can you guys please advice.
West Virginia
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First, the folks at NMSC are extremely helpful if you call them with questions, so don’t hesitate to call them.
As for BU, it’s one of those weird schools with the early first choice date. If you are sure your child will go to BU if accepted, you should designate BU as first choice now. If not accepted, your child will not be offered a scholarship by BU so you will be able to change to a different school after getting the decline. One more thing: you may want to call BU to make sure this scholarship is automatic once your kid is accepted and designates BU as first choice.
I agree with @amsunshine. Do call NMSC to verify. My understanding is that once a school offers your kid a National Merit Scholarship, you cannot switch and get the NM scholarship at another school. BU is trying to lock students in with the March 1 deadline. Usually the recommendation is to keep the student’s choice as undecided until they have determined where they plan to attend, but the March 1 deadline requires you to make your decision about BU early. So to be clear, to get BU’s scholarship you do need to designate them by March 1 and that may lock you out of other opportunities.
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I believe I read as well that the Pres. Scholarship does not go to every NMF who selects BU as their first choice. I’m wondering about the same thing for my son. I read that first choice selections need to be finalized by 4/30.
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Yes, for most schools, first choice does need to be made by 4/30. But there are exceptions - BU and I believe BC require finalization by 3/1. I’m not a fan of this requirement and if it were me, I would only make that early choice if I was absolutely certain I would be sending my kid to that particular school.
Thank you @amsunshine @Culbreath. Any idea what would happen (or what is the guidelines) if we make BU first choice and also get the acceptance and scholarship, but later instead decide not to go there afterall. Can we chance first choice then to some other college (before the common deadlines of 4/30 that most colleges follow)?
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My s21 applied to BU and already designated BU as his first choice. Does it mean if he gets accepted to BU and say another school like USC later, won’t he be able to switch to USC if he already gave his first choice to BU?
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My exact question, thank you!
I am already somewhat disliking BU for making us do this But my D likes the college.
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My understanding is that only one scholarship can be given under the National Merit banner. So if you list BU as first choice and BU then gives you the Presidential Scholarship which includes the National Merit sponsorship, then that’s your one shot at the NM sponsorship and another university cannot then give you one if you change your first choice. In most cases you can remain undecided as your first choice until the student is certain which university they plan to attend, but BU makes you lock in as of March 1.
But again to stress, you should confirm with NMSC by calling them. They are very helpful on the phone.
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Also, does getting an acceptance at BU mean automatic presidential scholarship as well if you are a NMF? Like USC?
Can’t say for sure. Their words on website “you will be considered for presidential scholarship if you put their name by Mar 1”. Not completely sure how to interpret this. But does not look automatic.
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Once the NMSC confirms that you are being offered the scholarship from BU, if you change your mind, you cannot get an NMSC scholarship from another college. That’s why you need to be absolutely sure about the choice. Talk to NMSC about this if you need clarification from them. They are very patient about these types of questions.
Yes, this is a risk you take by making BU your first choice if you think your son might change his mind later. Talk to NMSC about this. It’s really a crazy thing that BU does, I think, to try to lock in the choice early (especially if your kid hasn’t even gotten a decision yet).
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My daughter also applied to BU… she hasn’t applied to any other school that gives NMF scholarships so is going to list BU as first choice by 3/1.
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Finalist notifications are arriving in WA State! A principal I know just received the letter.
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Regarding the “did not advance” letters that @amsunshine and @Momof0ne were talking about… I saw someone post on the Reddit psat forum today that they got a rejection letter yesterday. I’m hoping their mail was just unnecessarily delayed somehow, but it’s making me a little more nervous than I was! 
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