amsunshine is very knowledgable about the ins and outs of the NM programs at different schools. Her kids applied to several schools across the country so she researched a lot of different NM offers. If you are trying to evaluate whether or not to designate a school as first choice, you might want to spend some time reading through last year’s thread, starting around here.
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My daughter’s letter arrived today. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it was very anti-climatic!
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Anyone in Houston area who got the letter? I am still waiting and no word from school.
We homeschool in Houston. Received principal letter on Feb 14. If the individual letter takes the same length of time, I expect it Tuesday (after Monday holiday).
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Thank you
It is clear that BU $25,000 award does not lock you in as first choice with NM. Its the smaller $500 a year NM sponsored scholarship that does that. The question is, when does BU award the $500 after admittance? My older NMF kids did not see that $500 in their portals until later, with USC and FSU. If BU admits you and you have BU as first choice and they give you the $500 and report it to NM, you are locked in with BU as first choice. But if they award the $500 in May or June or whatever, you have time to change your first choice. We are facing this dilemma, with S22 a NMF applying to BU but also other schools with NMF awards.
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Yes, that is the tricky part. People pay attention to the big scholarships more than the little ones. My kids did not apply to BU but, in previous threads, it seemed like BU students heard very early (before USC admissions). It could be that those students applied ED.
Boston College wants NM students to indicate BC is their first choice so that the school is notified in the first roster received from NMSC. Again, no personal experience, but I get the feeling that they issue awards early as well.
I can’t find it on their website but, in previous years, people have posted that Northeastern also has an early NM deadline.
Did your USC student receive the $2500 NMS scholarship from NMSC? My understanding is that USC gives the $4K ($1K/yr)scholarship to NMF (finalists) who do not receive the NMS (scholars) scholarship from NMSC. The smaller scholarship stacks on top of the half-tuition scholarship and it was like pulling teeth to find someone at USC who knew about it.
Edit: I just looked and it appears that USC updated their website.
Additionally, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation offers scholarships that are sponsored by colleges or corporations. Students will receive either a college sponsored scholarship or a corporate sponsored scholarship. Students offered a corporate sponsored scholarship, are not eligible for a college sponsored scholarship. Those decisions are made by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.
I believe they are referring to what, in the past, was $4K. The dollar value may have changed.
Lol - I felt the same! Maybe when they fix their printing issues and the schools have the certificates to give out, it will seem more exciting. That said - couldn’t NMFoundation use another printer? I mean - doesn’t Staples have 24 hour turnaround on most jobs?! 
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So confused… if anyone will share their thoughts on this scenario I would be so appreciative.
Daughter listed USC as first choice for NMF. With NMF scholarship, there is still $50k left to fund per year. Without additional financial aid, USC will not be possible. So if she gets accepted and the the financial aid package is no good and she is awarded NMF scholarship but can’t go because of cost…… then does that mean she won’t be able to use the NMF scholarship anywhere else because under #3 of the letter it states once awarded it can not be changed. Am I understanding that right? I would not want to blow NMF opportunities elsewhere but I fear that is what picking USC does without first seeing the financial aid package. Is it better to just change to undecided until all admission decisions and financial aid packages come out? Does it help admission chances at USC to have them listed as number one? I think this stressful college process as made me a little crazy at this point. So worried we will make an unintended mistake with severe consequences.
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We are confused, too, and are leaving first choice as “undecided” because of #3.
But, like you, we are worried that the March 1 date is significant. Is there a risk a school will give the scholarships to those on their March 1 list and then say they ran out and there is nothing left for latecomers? I have never heard of that happening, but the college websites tend to say a NMF who names them as first choice is “eligible” for a scholarship — but not that one is guaranteed.
Does a school look at the March 1 names and if an applicant does not appear, does that make a difference in admissions or other aid awarded?
Edited to add that it seems pretty late in the game for the NMF lists to be much of a factor — especially if they send them by snail mail and it takes 10 days.
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Every situation seems to present a dilemma.
Here is ours:
Does the school you designate as a first choice affect whether the student gets admitted?
My son has two NMF schools: Vanderbilt which only awards $5000 per year and Northeastern University.
NEU provides a much better financial deal but he visited last weekend when he was in Boston for a music festival and is not sure he would choose NEU over his safety( merit and honors college make it cheaper than NEU even with NMF award).
But he would likely choose Vanderbilt over his safety so I am wondering if he should designate Vanderbilt as his NMF school so they can see that he listed them as first choice and that he would likely attend.
Do you think it is worth reaching out to Vanderbilt and asking directly?
I agree that it is hard to know what approach is best.
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I would. Not only will you get your question answered, but it might let them know you are interested. I say “might” because financial aid usually doesn’t communicate with admissions. However, some schools log contacts in a way that all departments are able to view.
I don’t have experience with Vanderbilt, but the wording on their website, “by National Merit’s final deadline” makes me think that they don’t pay attention to early designations of first choice. Again, that’s just my interpretation.
Just called NMSC and we received confirmation on our Finalist standing. 
The mail should arrive sometime this week.
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Thanks. I will have my son reach out this week before the March 1st deadline. They will likely say it doesn’t matter to them but as you say it at least demonstrates that he is still interested.
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We are in the same boat. A couple of weeks ago I called USC admissions (not FA). I had just had my kid switch their first choice from USC to undecided and was freaking out that maybe it had doomed their USC application and they should switch back. The rep said the choice would not affect decisions and that they had until May 1st to decide. She was extremely nice and seemed confident in what she was saying.
I still wonder, though. There is so much tracking of our kids—do they open emails, did they attend virtual events, how much time do they spend on the school’s website, did they go into their portals—it’s just hard to believe the schools are not influenced by your choosing them as your first choice before decisions come out. 
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I do not work for USC so give them a call to verify. You can call financial aid to confirm how they award the scholarship. Your student can also send a well worded email to their AO to update the application to indicate that they are now a NMF. Your student can share that USC is their first choice and maybe ask if the NM designation is visible to the AO. AOs are very busy this time of year and may not reply but it is a way for your student to reiterate that they are interested in USC.
In my experience with USC, they admit students without regard for whether they are NM. Listing NMSF might look good on an application but they aren’t paying attention to whether or not they are designated #1 during the admissions process. After a student is admitted, if it comes through that they are a NMF (by May 31), the scholarship will be added to the student’s account. Again, call to verify.
When my child was going through the process, she remained “undecided” until she was ready to SIR. She wasn’t applying to BU, BC or NEU so wasn’t worried about early designation. She didn’t find out which USC merit scholarship she was awarded until the end of March. She did not receive the $2500 from NMSC or a corporate scholarship so was awarded the additional $4K NMS scholarship from USC. When she decided that USC was the NM school she was most likely to attend (other options didn’t care about NM), she changed her designation. USC’s financial aid info (merit scholarship + NMS scholarship) was updated a couple of weeks later.
For those applying to Cal Poly SLO, they also give a small scholarship to NM students. It doesn’t involve designating them as #1 choice. After your student is admitted, they will receive an email that says something like, “April 1: Deadline for emailing a copy of your award confirmation to admissions@calpoly.edu. if you are a National Merit Finalist or have a National Achievement Scholarship.”
Did your student receive early admission to USC?
No, unfortunately. This is why I worry. 
Interesting, though, they did receive an invite for Berkeley Regents. Since they came out the same afternoon, it was a confusing result. It is hard not to wonder if not getting the USC scholarship invite was the result of not having designated them their first choice.
Congratulations on the Berkeley admission and Regents invite! I know I saw good news posted by you that day. Are you waiting to hear from UCLA as well?
Is she applying to any other schools that give NM scholarships? If not, then there is no risk in designating USC as #1.