The best award from a college sponsored by national merit is $2k per year. If you are offered the $2500 award first, you can always turn it down, but I don’t know if I would do that personally. At any rate, you don’t have to think about it until you are offered the award, so just wait and then if you get it, talk to NMSC about your options.
Absolutely. You cannot accept both. My daughter is a recipient of a college sponsored award from 2020. She did not receive the $2500 award.
1 Like
Some colleges may offer a larger scholarship “package” for NMF, of which one piece is the National Merit sponsorship of $2000. If you get the $2500 NMSC award, you will not get another $2000 NM sponsorship from the college but you would still be eligible for the rest of the package. So winning the $2500 from NMSC will not work against you in any way.
2 Likes
Anyone have experience with what Northeastern and RIT offer to NMF? Would you recommend one over the other?
Can anyone pls clarify? Does not getting accepted or accepted but with no presidential scholarship at BU make my S21 switch his first choice to another college which gives NMF money before its due date? (Of course provided he gets accepted to that another college as well). Thanks!
@Suave123, I think that is right. If a child is not accepted or accepted without any NMF scholarship, you are then eligible to change your first choice school.
@Suave123 Correct - it is the awarding of the NMF sponsorship that locks him in to the BU NM sponsorship. If they don’t award him the NM money, then he can claim the sponsorship elsewhere under the conditions set by another university.
The presidential scholarship is an extra scholarship offered by BU. It is not an NMSC sponsored scholarship. It’s not clear to me how BU’s program works. Theoretically, it’s possible your kid could not get the presidential (because it’s limited in number and/or competitive) but still get the NMSC scholarship that, at most, is $2k per year from BU. I really don’t know how their program works though, so you need to do your due diligence to clarify with both BU and NMSC.
Thanks for this post. I had forgotten that non-finalists were supposed to be notified in January. Hopefully our lack of notice bodes well for our D21 too.
1 Like
I’m even more confused now. FYI, my S21 did not apply to BU before it’s scholarship due Dec 1, rather he applied on Jan 1st RD. Is presidential scholarship given for kids who apply by Dec 1 deadline? If so, the only NM money my S21 can get from BU is 2k only? If RD nmf students are also considered for presidential scholarship, does not receiving that 25k presidential but just the regular NM 2k money lock my kid to BU?
We have a new principal this year, and I think our school’s semifinalist list last fall was sitting in his inbox until I called the office to ask, after seeing press releases from other schools in the state. About 4 hours later he tweeted about our SF’s 
2 Likes
I honestly have no idea because neither of my kids ever applied to BU. These are things you need to figure out.
The one thing I can say is that none of these things “locks” your kid to BU. The risk involved is that your kid may lose an NMSC scholarship in addition to forfeiting scholar status if he changes his mind and attends a different school after being awarded an NMSC scholarship at BU. (Also, as I said before, the presidential scholarship is not the NMSC sponsored scholarship – it is an extra benefit offered by BU.)
1 Like
I agree with @amsunshine. Don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and call BU and NMSC with specific questions. I’ve made a few phone calls to college admissions offices and NMSC over the past few months and have never had anyone act like they didn’t want to talk to me. The BU website should have contact information for admissions and/or financial aid office.
2 Likes
I can’t speak for other colleges but I am familiar with how things work at USC. If you receive a scholarship other than the half-tuition Presidential scholarship and you are NOT awarded the $2500 by NMSC, USC will give NM Finalists a $4000 ($1000/year) scholarship to make them a NM Scholar. In that case, you cannot turn down the NMSC $2500 in order to receive the USC $4000.
1 Like
Thank you for this clarification! This makes sense.
I thought if you were a national merit finalist and you got into USC you were guaranteed half tuition?
I have seen some universities will make up the difference if their NM award is higher than NMSC. So there aren’t 2 NM awards, but the college makes the student whole for the difference. Is that not the case at USC? We didn’t look there so I’m not familiar with the details.
1 Like
I know UT Dallas does not make up the difference. I remember last year, parents whose kids were going to UT Dallas were hoping their kids did not get the $2500 scholarship from NMSC because the award from UT Dallas was more, lol.
Hi from a fellow Iowan!
In the fall, our Principal thankfully let DS know immediately. I talked to our GC last week and they hadn’t seen anything yet, but was told not to worry as their mail is usually slow. I’m just REALLY hoping they know something today!!
2 Likes
If you do get some clarification about BU, please do share what you learn here. I’m sure the information will be helpful for others either this year or in future years as a reference.
3 Likes