Does anyone have a link to a list of all the finalists? I know that NMSC puts out news releases and they say they send lists to the news media, but don’t publish a list themselves. We already know my son is a finalist, but I just wanted to see the list. Is it just me or is anyone else annoyed by this? You’d think they’d want to make it easier to celebrate these kiddos. 
I just committed to UF and designated them as my first choice for national merit. I know that they automatically award a small scholarship for designation as a finalist, but I was wondering what the process after that is. Will I be informed by the state that I will be receiving the overall scholarship? Also, will my family have to pay for all my college expenses up front, then they get reimbursed? How is the money transferred too?
My son committed to Boston University last night. He applied there in large part due to the NMS merit money, but wasn’t sure how it would work since he needs more aid than that $25K. He left his top choice college as “undecided” with NMSC and didn’t select BU by the March 1st deadline, since we weren’t sure how doing that might affect his other college decisions. He was awarded a University Scholarship (for students with high potential and high financial need) in a very nice amount to meet our needs, with no loans, and it’s guaranteed for 4 years – I think the package is as good as, or better than, the FA he might have gotten from the two Ivies who rejected him. It is good enough that we all felt he could choose BU over a full COA NM award to UMaine (which is also a good program, just not as diverse in many ways). I talked to a BU financial advisor yesterday, and asked about the March 1st deadline. He said they got rid of that deadline this year…?? Maybe he meant for the $500-$2000 BU-sponsored National Merit Scholarship, not the $25,000 in merit money? In any case he said my son still has a chance of getting the NMS, though we’re not betting on it since the NMSC booklet lists only 15 awards for BU. It will be a nice bonus if he does.
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Congratulations to your son. Glad he found a school that is financially affordable and is guaranteed to be so for four years.
The elimination of the March 1 deadline is interesting. Please come back and let us know if he receives the $25K merit scholarship.
The BU NMS scholarship my son might qualify for would be for $500-$2,000, not the $25K – but his University Scholarship trumped the $25K Merit Scholarship. My guess is that the March 1st deadline still applies in order to qualify for the $25K. It gets confusing with so many different scholarships!
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Did your son submit his application by Dec 1st deadline to be eligible for the university scholarship? FYI, my son did receive the 25k presidential award and the letter said he received that for being his NMF status and we did list BU as our first choice before March 1st.
I think you have time until May 1st to designate BU as first choice and by doing so, you’ll be eligible for NMSC merit money (2k) as per their wordings below…
“Beginning May 1st, NMSC starts compiling lists of Finalists who will receive a college-sponsored scholarship. Two things are required to trigger a mailing of a college-sponsored scholarship directly from NMSC to the Finalist:
A Finalist has a First Choice school designated AND
That Finalist’s name is on that sponsoring school’s list of chosen recipients.”
Thanks, I did also see this on the BU website:
"NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP
National Merit finalists who designate Boston University as their first-choice college with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation and who choose to enroll at Boston University may be eligible for a National Merit Scholarship. These awards range from $500 to $2,000. "
No March 1st deadline mentioned there, so that’s encouraging. We’ll see!
To be honest, BU was a late add-on application for my son so I think the deadline he met was January 1. He’s fortunate he decided to apply and was admitted. Sort of indicative of this crazy application year.
Well, today I opened a letter from NMSC to my son that had gotten returned and resent, and it turns out he was awarded a National Merit Scholarship from them. So he won’t need to get one from BU. The letter said the public announcement of National Merit Scholarships will be made on May 12.
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Congratulations! Did the letter say how much the award is? Also, does NMSC award this one or BU? When was it mailed to you? Thanks!
Make sure he accepts the award before the deadline. At least that’s what S20 had to do last year. Your son should have also received an email with the same information back in March.
The letter calls it the National Merit $2500 Scholarship so it’s from NMSC, not BU, and the letter from April 8 says it was offered to him on March 25… but neither of us ever saw that offer via email or snail mail and were assuming he wasn’t selected for the scholarship. He went into his account and accepted the scholarship and also updated his address.
I don’t think the BU scholarships will be released until May, after the deadline to declare first choice with NMSC.
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AnoopS They will eventually put the Benacquisto scholarship in your account. They will pay all of your expenses, like Tuition, fees etc. After those expenses are paid, they will dump the rest into your UF1 account. Easiest way for you, is to open a Wells-Fargo account on campus. They will cross reference it with your UF ID. It will also serve as your bank card. At first the $ may come in slow. You may be waiting 1-3 weeks for it. You will be responsible for some bills sent to your account at UF. You simply tell them Benacquisto and ask for a waiver until it arrives. They will give you a waiver and extensions if needed. Don’t bother with the Meal account plan. You will hate eating there after 2 weeks. Most students eat on campus or close by, but save $ and don’t use the meal plan. You may need to start the first semester with some of your own $ until it comes in. After that you will be flush with $. You should have excess at the end of each semester. My son uses it for additional summer classes and Beer etc.
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Also quick follow up question, do they send out the uf $500 scholarship in waves or at the end may 31st deadline. I changed uf to my top choice a while ago but haven’t heard back.
Hi everyone! Quick question - I got an email yesterday notifying me that I won the UF $500 scholarship, but I won’t be attending UF because Benacquisto isn’t guaranteed there anymore. Since I had to decline my scholarship, and it asked me for my major for a public announcement, am I still considered a National Merit Scholar? Thank you!!
I haven’t been able to find anything
If NMC asked for your info for a public announcement, I suspect they do consider you a NM Scholar. You’ll know if they send you that designation. You could also call NMC. They are very helpful with questions like that.
Thank you!! I called and they said that the only difference between finalist and scholar is that scholar means that they’ll continue their relationship with me (by giving me a scholarship). Since I won’t be getting the scholarship, they aren’t continuing their relationship with me, so I actually don’t think I’m a NM Scholar 
I would not sweat it. While I think being a National Merit Finalist has a bit of value on your resume for a few years, no one knows the difference between a Finalist or a Scholar. And if they do know the difference, they will not afford it any weight.
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Does anyone know when nmsc announces the college based merit scholarship? From the past threads, it’s around the first week of May. Would like to know how to identify if we received one.
Does any one know when the NMSC send out updates of first choices to colleges every month? My son changed his choice on 5/1. There is no way to check if it’s gone out.