Class of 2021 National Merit Thread

Paying for College National Merit Aid
822

CS^2 is an excellent program! Good luck to your son.

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823

Thanks. I’m encouraging him to take it.

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824

I got a reply today. The answer is - yes, you CAN accept NU National Merit scholarship plus any corporate National Merit scholarship awarded to you. They can be stacked.

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825

Excellent! I’m so happy for you – I was hoping that would be the case. :relaxed:

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826

Thanks! With the higher cost of living in Boston, every little (multiplied by 4 years) helps!

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827

@amsunshine The NMSC sponsored awards will be announced tomorrow? In the student’s NM portal, or is this something they need to hear from the high school counselor/principal?

Add me to the list of people hoping my son does not get one of those as his likely college offers more.

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828

Yes, according to the NMSC schedule, the $2500 award notifications should go out tomorrow. The portals will be updated for award winners. At least, that is what has happened in the past. Good luck!

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829

Is this true? If you get a NMSC 2500 you can’t accept a full ride to UF, Alabama, UT Dallas, or half tuition at USC? That makes no sense

830

There are 2 different parts of the merit:

  1. NMSC and school sponsored awards that make one NMS.
  2. Big awards given to NMS by selected colleges that are INDEPENDENT from NMCS awards.

Specifically for UTD, you either get

  1. $2.5K from NMSC and full tuition and $4K + $1.5K (if you live on campus) from UTD
    or
  2. $3K from UTD spread over 8 semesters and full tuition and $4K + $1.5K (if you live on campus) from UTD
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831

I am not sure about Alabama and UTD, but it should help you with UF.This is from the FAQs on Benacquisto scholarship.

  1. Who is eligible for the Benacquisto Scholarship award?
    The scholarship is available to National Merit® Finalists who receive one of the following qualifying
    scholarships:
    • National Merit® $2500 Scholarship,
    • Corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship®, or
    • College-sponsored Merit Scholarship®.
832

Your child will receive an email from NMSC if they are given the award.

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833

One only needs to be a finalist to receive the half tuition scholarship at USC. If they don’t receive scholar status through NMSC, USC will award them an additional scholarship to make them a scholar. Note that the half-tuition USC scholarship is called a National Merit finalist scholarship, not a National Merit scholar scholarship. USC Scholarships On their school profile, USC lists the number of scholars who attend.

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834

She is talking about the NMSC college sponsored award, not the bigger scholarships offered by the colleges only.

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835

Thanks all!

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836

Any updates on nmsc’s award?

837

Found this:

image
image1125×2436 260 KB

838

I think public announcements would be different though? Like we should find out beforehand if I’m not mistaken

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839

That’s what I hope!

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840

According to this document on the NM website (https://nationalmerit.imodules.com/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/merit_about_leaflet.pdf?sessionid=2d9b0559-3245-48ad-baf0-b564eadb0a9a&cc=1),

NMSC will confidentially notify schools in March 2021 (see the top of page 3). Seems like only schools will know in March. However, on page 5 it is shows March 2021 as when “2,500 National Merit $2500 Scholarship winners notified”. Still a few more days left in March. So winners may hear anytime between now and the 31st.

Media news release will be done on May 12 (page 4).

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841

In the “Requirements and Instructions for Semifinalists” document in the portal, it says that offers for the $2500 scholarships are mailed today.

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