Both used to, but both recently stopped (within the last two-to-three years). It was a small award, around $2000/year.
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Not clear on whether or not a recommendation letter is needed? It looks like an endorser signs that they are recommending this student but not writing a letter??
Bumping this up - trying to figure out for the NMF application if 1) There is an actual recommendation letter or just a signature 2) Does the endorser/ recommender see the student essay?
Iād love to know this as well. In the past, our principal did the āschool administratorā piece, but this year it is the counselors, and ours in brand new. Iām a little nervous about the process.
Pulling over from a discussion on the 2023 thread by @zenmaster0, can we discuss the first choice instructions:
NMSC will not process any college change requests for a Finalist once a college-sponsored Merit Scholarship offer has been posted to their OSA dashboard. The change in college choice will not be reported to the newly selected college and the Finalist cannot be offered another college-sponsored award from NMSC. This applies even if the new college choice also sponsors Merit Scholarship awards. Finalists who
are uncertain of their current college choice may change it to āundecidedā to prevent an offer for a school they may not attend. Such notification must be submitted online at osa.nationalmerit.org before May 1. Finalists can subsequently report a firm college choice no later than May 31.
Does āa college-sponsored Merit Scholarshipā in this context refer to a small merit award by a college and not the big half-tuition from USC/potential 20k-ish from BU/NEU? This is confusing to me.
Scenario: suppose the NMF puts BU as first choice on March 1, subsequently is admitted RD to both BU and USC, and BU posts a college-sponsored award to the studentās OSA dashboard, the student cannot then change first choice to USC? Iām pretty sure Iām misunderstanding something here.
Or, does the student put BU on March 1, and change that to undecided some time after March 1 but before BU posts a college-sponsored NM scholarship to the studentās OPA dashboard?
The process for National Merit is that a Semi-Finalist applies to become a Finalist. Some of those Finalists receive scholarships from NMSC. Some receive scholarships from private corporations and some receive scholarships (not the big ones, more in the $2-4K range) from colleges. Those NMSC/corporation/college small scholarships make the Finalist ā Scholar. NM Scholar(NMS) is the endpoint of this journey.
A student who does not receive an NMSC/corporation/college scholarship, remains a Finalist.
Does that help?
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Thanks, here is where I am hung up, is the timing of those small college-sponsored awards that would preclude changing first choice.
MAY 31, 2024
Deadline for NMSC to receive reports of a sponsor college as first choice. Because it is necessary to treat all Finalists consistently and conclude the annual competition in a timely manner, only college choice reports that NMSC receives by May 31, 2024, will be used to identify the final group of candidates to a college or university that sponsors awards
The small college-sponsored awards donāt even occur until after May 31? Sorry I somehow missed this before. In which case, nevermind, I think this is my answer LOL. I still feel like this could be clearer, however.
The question is whether a college can issue such an award before May 31, thereby precluding the student from changing their first choice. I am assuming no, but if Iām wrong, someone please speak up.
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Called NM Corp. Yes, an actual recommendation letter is written. And yes, the recommender does see the studentās essay. These items are true for homschoolers or and non.
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I think that a call to NMSC would probably provide the best answer.
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Here is the timeline from NMSC from its Requirements and Instructions for Semifinalists
in the 2024 National MeritĀ® Scholarship Program:
March 1 Finalists who have reported a sponsor college as ļ¬rst choice before this date will be included in the ļ¬rst group referred to the institution for scholarship consideration
March 13 NMSC begins offering corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards
March 21 NMSC offers National Merit $2500 Scholarships
May 1 NMSC begins offering college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards
(see IMPORTANT note on page 4)
Mid-May Finalists who have not yet been selected to receive a Merit Scholarship award will be notified at their home addresses
May 31 Deadline for NMSC to receive reports of college choice for identifying the ļ¬nal group of candidates for college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards
The āImportant Noteā is quoted in its entirety below:
IMPORTANT: NMSC will not process any college change requests for a Finalist once a college-sponsored Merit Scholarship offer has been posted to their OSA dashboard. The change in college choice will not be reported to the newly selected college and the Finalist cannot be offered another college-sponsored award from NMSC. This applies even if the new college choice also sponsors Merit Scholarship awards. Finalists who are uncertain of their current college choice may change it to āundecidedā to prevent an offer for a school they may not attend. Such notification must be submitted online at osa.nationalmerit.org before May 1. Finalists can subsequently report a firm college choice no later than May 31.
The Timeline says that May 1 is the day NMSC begins offering college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards. That answers the question. So BU cannot post a scholarship to OSA dashboard before 5/1.
The strategy will then be applying for all three, designating BU as first choice before 3/1 for it to consider the student for NMF scholarship (not guaranteed), waiting for acceptance letters and offers, making final decision in April, then switching first choice to the one the student is going (both USC and Bama guarantee the scholarships) before 5/1. Does it sound right?
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Yes. Thank you!
Well we were surprised to find out our daughter made NMSF. Our school never notified us, found out late last week when a friend told us she saw her listed on a Reddit post. I donāt think the school would ever have told us, they seemed surprised when we asked about it. Ugh!
So digging into this has been a bit of a blessing and a curse. Our daughter is high achieving and her top choice schools (Rice, WashU, Brown) would all be very expensive and we will not qualify for financial aid. Our state flagship is her probable safety and while less expensive we dont expect any financial aid or merit scholarships so would be about $120k for 4 years.
I really had no idea how good the scholarships at places like UA, UCF, etc were for NM kids. It seems crazy to pay $120k-300k+ for a more āprestigiousā school. Also my daughter has absolutely no idea what she will major in but has ruled out most of the areas that typically are high paying (I.e no engineering, CS, medicine, law). Maybe psychology so not sure if that is an argument for or against more of a āname brandā school.
It sounds like some here have been very happy with UA, UCF. Would be curious if others have made the decision to pay high cost for a school or pursue an NMF scholarship and how that decision has turned out.
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I emailed UChicago financial aid, and they do not offer a nm scholarship through the school.
I think that the budget for college is a very personal decision, and there is no right or wrong answer. However, from a purely financial standpoint, it will be extremely difficult to ever recover the cost of a $300K education, especially if your student is not pursuing a lucrative career. Depending on the profession, itās likely that the student would not ever recover the cost of a $120K education. However, the experience at UA and UCF will not be the same as you would get at some of the more āprestigiousā schools your daughter is considering.
My husband and I both went to T20 schools, and we know what that environment looks like. There are plenty of benefits, but with the cost of college today, we did not even seriously look at these schools. UA is paying my daughter to attend there. They cover every last one of her expenses - tuition, fees, books, housing, all meals, and so on. And they deposit a check in her bank account every semester. The summer after her freshman year she got an internship that paid 5 figures. I cannot overemphasize what that level of financial security provides to a new graduate!
On top of the financial aspect, my daughter is loving the benefits of being at a huge school with tons of resources. The things that she is doing outside of the classroom amaze me. Sheās living life to the fullest, and sheās never been stressed about school. For our family, UA has been the perfect choice.
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For the smaller school experience check U Tulsa amongst others. They give a full ride for semi and per the president who posts here, 25% of all inbound are NM.
Hereās a list, a few years old, of most school offers. Because itās 3 years old, itās directional at best and you need to verify each school for todayās offer.
Congrats.
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We were one of those families that chose Univ Alabama over something more prestigious. We donāt qualify for aid and the benefits for the cost werenāt there at other schools. Heās still surrounded by smart, hard working, non-partying kids. Itās what he sought out and what clicked with him.
If you havenāt already, google Malcom Gladwell and Why You Shouldnāt Go to Harvard - I found very insightful. Best of luck!
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Anyone able to get application waivers (w/o a visit) as a result of NMSF?
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This is really encouraging thank you so much. We would be full pay and Iām happy to do so but feel like we are chasing prestige for the wrong reasons. I think we are going to take our daughter to visit UA, UCF and USF. From what Iāve seen, UA looks like it would be the most ātypicalā big college experience and people seem to be quite happy there. Orlando and Tampa would be much easier to get to though.
We have some issues with Oklahoma so OU and Tulsa are off the list.
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If you do visit UA, request to tour the departments that interest your daughter. The personalized nature of our UA visit really set Bama apart. We did the general campus tour, had a two hour meeting/lunch with a Randall Research Scholar and member of Blount (the highlight of our visit), met with a ChemE professor, and toured the engineering facilities.
FWIW, I do think that many students initially struggle with turning down prestigious schools for the schools you mentioned. I donāt want to pretend that no one considers that. But I think that the huge upside really begins to show after they enroll. Also, for us, that was also part of the appeal. Despite all the diversity at Alabama, all of my daughterās friends have one thing in common - they donāt need the prestige of a high-ranking school to feel fulfilled. The result is a group of highly motivated, intelligent students who are also kind and grounded. That was a huge selling point.
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Question about school recommendations - how important are they? Our school has recently (almost) tripled in size and has over 20 NMSF this year. I donāt know how it has been handled in the past, but this year counselors are handling the recommendations and my DS counselor is brand new. She met him for the first time a week ago when she called him down to talk about NM. They are planning to use a college application recommendation written by a teacher, not specifically for NM. Should I be concerned? Grades will not be an issue, has confirming test scores. His essay was fine but not stellar (about losing his other parent Junior year). Please talk me off this ledge - first (and only) time mama here.