Congratulations!! 
Doesnât the check go directly to the college that you indicated as your first choice?
Do they release the $2,500 awards on May 11? This whole award process is confusing.
Thanks. Yes, it does go directly to the designated school - I was just messing around.
1 Like
Thank you to everyone here for all the help navigating this process. Our school has very few NMSF ever, so a lot was up to us to make sure everything was going in the right direction. It would have been much harder without this group.
5 Likes
Oh god, yes! I still remember vividly when I had to scramble to locate my D22 and her classmateâs NMSF notification letters and access codes.
4 Likes
Press release on NMF $2500 recipients went out today in our local paper.
1 Like
Is there a list available of all the winners?
My son is heading to Alabama. He has a prompt to accept a $1000 National Merit scholarship sponsored by the University of Alabama. This is with the NMSC portal. Is this just part of what he does to get all the other scholarship? Iâll call to be sure tomorrow but figured someone here would know.
1 Like
Yes, he should accept the NM scholarship. As an FYI, my DD received a $2,500 NM corporate scholarship, and UA said that she had to accept the scholarship. The NM scholarship offsets the $3,500 stipend. Roll Tide!
2 Likes
Accept it or loose the money. Congratulations to your son. RTR.
2 Likes
@Dis3456 and @Peruna1998
Thanks! Iâll have him accept in the morning.
1 Like
I was informed, through my OSA portal and through email, that I was granted a financial stipend through my college of choice, but yesterday I received a letter in the mail that says âUnfortunately, you have not been selected for one of the 7500 awardsâ. Iâm quite confused- am I a âMerit Scholar awardeeâ or not?
I think most of the colleges that give awards for National Merit only require students to be a finalists. So you should get the stipend even if you werenât named among the 7500 awardees. It does seem a bit strange though. Perhaps they just had too many finalists admitted to the NM-linked colleges. I would suggest contacting the college to clarify the situation.
1 Like
Yesterday, NMSF told me via mail they likely couldnât offer me a scholarship, but that theyâd be offering some additional scholarships throughout the next few weeks. And guess what - I got a college-sponsored $2K/yr today! (Emory BTW)
5 Likes
The NMSC letter is a bit confusing and should probably be worded a bit differently.
The letter indicates that the NMSC $2.5K scholarships (2,500 of those) and corporate scholarships (about 1,000) have been all distributed. Yet, they still have most of the 4,000 college sponsored scholarships to distribute. Saying âUnfortunately, you have not been selected for one of the 7,500 awardsâ at this point is a bit misleading to say the least.
Just double check that the first choice is listed correctly. If thatâs correct and the college awards NMS scholarships to everyone, then the student just needs to wait for their offer to get processed.
@A_J10 you are a National Merit Scholar
1 Like
What if the school is not listed on the pamphlet, would I still get money from school ?
To receive the college sponsored NMSC scholarship, you have to list the college as your first choice. If you were undecided, you may have till May 31 to select the college (unless the college itself specifies an earlier deadline).
I am not certain what happens if you listed a different college and need to change it. This would be a good question for the NMSC.
Either way, if your school isnât listed, you need to log into your NMSC account and make the change.
1 Like
You are still a National Merit Scholar, you just earned your scholarship through the college you will attend rather than through one of the NMSF awarded $2500 grants. Not all colleges award grants to National Merit Finalists. And not all award grants to every National Merit Finalist. But if you get either the college grant or corporate grant, you canât also get the $2500 grant. It is one or the other. Iâm glad my son got the college grant as it is worth more at $1500/year than a 1X $2500 grant. Congrats!
1 Like
Have you all received the printed certificate already? We have only received the letter so far, acknowledging that my son is a National Merit Finalist. I remember someone mentioned that the National Merit organization had problems with their printing service and the certificates were going to be mailed to the schools sometime in the spring.
Yes, my DD received her certificate March 8 at school. Maybe your school is holding on to it to hand out at an awards night?