corporate not cooperate LOL
Being a National Merit Finalist does not guarantee you any money. Only about half of NMF get awards.
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I am aware about that, Was worried if I have time to change the prize. I dont want to get college scholarship when we know we will not attend the college.
Cal tech is not on the participant list. Therefore he would have to be named a Scholar right off the bat and receive a NM sponsored award or there would be no award. imho
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Mine got an additional $2500 which her school refunded to her because she already had everything covered.
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Exactly. Thatās a thing depending on the University.
does anyone know when we find out about who advances to NMF?
March. Most people advance.
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Letters will be mailed out likely this week to NMSFs who arenāt advancing, received probably next week. Last year they were mailed on 1/12, started to be received around 1/18.
Update: According to someone on Reddit, these letters are being mailed tomorrow, 1/12.
On 2/6, NMSC mails notification to high school principals about the status of their Semifinalists.
On 2/13, NMSC mails letters to Finalistsā home addresses informing them of their status.
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One year, we had a kid out west who went to a small school. His administrator called him into the office and informed him of his NM status from his Guidance Counselor list. (before he was supposed to) As he was the only one, he asked if he could get the list from his counselor for a souvenir. He then had all of us messaging him for inquiries of our kids. I found out our entire school long before official notifications. 
thanks!!!
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Son had a National Merit tour of UCF earlier this week. Very nice in-depth tour of NM scholarship, Burnett Honors College, his major, honors dorms, etc. A few takeaways I wasnāt aware of:
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Apparently it is not unusual at all for NMSes to forgo the meal plan at UCF and instead take money and cook in the dorm room (since it has a full stove and fridge). A nice setup and option for some.
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I knew, but had forgotten, that NMSes can register for courses a whole year in advance. Thereās apparently one very in-demand CS elective that every semester is filled almost entirely with National Merit and military (apparently they can register early as well).
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Once you reach 132 credit hours, there is an additional fee of $105 per credit hour, or roughly $1600/semester. For NMSes, many of whom have AP/DE/etc. credits (my son will have around 60), itās probably not a dealbreaker for most, but itās something to be aware of.
Anyway, very positive visit all in all. Itāll be interesting to compare this enormous school to UTulsa next month ā the smallest school remaining on my sonās list.
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My current two graduates from two different Universities both never had a meal plan. They both saved their scholarship money and paid as they went. They still ate quite a bit on campus just not generally at the cafeterias. The money saved there serves to pay well for other costs that may not be covered.
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Iām expecting my son will be denied on the basis of grades. I have seen posts here and elsewhere with stories of kids with 3.8+ and 10 AP courses getting denied, so I donāt have my hopes up too high. It will be fine, as he is currently deciding between UTulsa and UMaine and it might throw a wrench in things if other full rides get tossed in!
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What other schools has he toured for NMF?
Yes, all the UCF parent pages say donāt get the meal plan. You can eat at the dining hall without the plan, just pay by the meal. But the food is not too popular. Mine thought it was okay the day we went, but theyāre not picky. Hoping theyāll do a fair bit of cooking.
So what was the class?! Mine will be IT/Cyber, not CS though.
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I also heard the first 40 who had both deposited (enrollment fee) and had UCF listed first. Not sure if thatās true.
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I believe the class was AI for Game Programming ā which, looking on the spring UCF course listing, currently has a waitlist of 35 students for a class that maxes out at 60.
UCF was his first NM tour. (He toured Alabama ā but 18 months ago, on a regular tour rather than a speciality tour. ) Heās going to the February Tulsa Time on Presidentsā Day, and we may try to squeeze in a short trip to UT-Dallas in early February as well. With the limit of 40 OOS at UCF, that puts a time constraint on us a bit, since it is among his top choices (even moreso after visiting).
Heās also looking at a few other schools that arenāt full rides ā interviewing at the Raikes School at UNL next weekend, interviewing (virtually) for the top OOS scholarship at Missouri S&T next week, and waiting on CS admissions from Purdue and UIUC (both reaches, both a lot more expensive than the UCFs and Tulsas of the world). But my gut feeling in talking with him is heāll be at UCF, UT-Dallas, or Tulsa next fall.
Yes, thatās what they told us as well on the tour. Need both UCF deposit and listed first with NMSC.
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Youāre doing quite the traveling and looking! Itās great heās open to so many choices. We only visited one OOS school- Alabama. Otherwise, just Florida ones with UF and FSU getting nixed on the first day of visits. . UCF for being such a large school, has a small comfortable feel when we visit.
Iām curious to hear about Tulsa!
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Thatās what we were told while we were there. I believe Lindsey said she gets the first list in February, so if she had 40 she would know then. I believe we did it as far back as October, or at least as soon as it was open. If she is first 40 then she is at least 50/50 UCF/UA today. If not first 40 then it makes the choice easier. UCF does have a āFitā kind of feel to it when visiting.
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