<p>My son (a high school jr.) received a letter from National Merit Scholarship Corp. asking him to list two schools that he is interested in. They will then have his info sent to these schools via the College Plans Reporting Service. He doesn't have a favorite school and hasn't decided on a major. His goal is to go to the best school he can get into for the least amount of cost. He is second in his class as of now and got a 34 on his ACT. Does any one have any advice? The deadline to submit the names is May 23.</p>
<p>You will find lots of information on this topic on the Financial Aid - National Merit forum.
[National</a> Merit Scholarships - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/]National”>National Merit Scholarships - College Confidential Forums)</p>
<p>Bottom line, this is just a notification of hey, this kid did well on PSAT, non-binding, not his ‘choice’ for NMS which comes later in the process.</p>
<p>There are also lists there of schools that offer good packages for NMF and even SF.</p>
<p>Thanks, I appreciate any info!</p>
<p>You will find some great info on that forum on this topic. The general thought from others who have been through this is that this notification may result in further contact from schools that offer NM$, but thats pretty much the extent. </p>
<p>My daughter is going to list two schools that we know offer large NM$ that we have not yet visited, the thought being that she is already identified at those schools we have already been to. </p>
<p>Hope that helps!</p>
<p>where do you give the names of the two colleges we want this info sent to?</p>
<p>I found this helpful:</p>
<p>[Carleton</a> College: Admissions: Tips for National Merit Scholars](<a href=“http://apps.carleton.edu/admissions/afford/national_merit_tips/]Carleton”>http://apps.carleton.edu/admissions/afford/national_merit_tips/)</p>
<p>Both of my kids went with undecided initially, they have a long time to make their final choice.</p>
<p>check the colleges carefully before he sends in that form, as it would be a waste of time for him to list any college that does NOT sponsor [i.e. offer merit $] to NMF’s. Ivys dont offer NMF merit scholarships and have 10Xs more tippy-top students applying than there are openings. So if it is big time serious scholarship $$ you are after, he will ALSO have to also apply to slightly less “elite” Universities. They are eager to pay for tip-top students. USC [ Southern Calif] offers automatic 1/2 tuition scholarships to accepted NMF’s. And they also give out over 100 Full Tuition scholarships to tip top students who clearly show an interest in USC AND complete their application before the Dec 1 application deadline</p>