<p>Barfly - exactly my understanding. You just worded it better than I did. Thanks.</p>
<p>MilwaukeeMom - Your information is exactly what I was told by my son’s first choice school as well. Even if he denies the $2500 NM Scholarship, he is no longer eligible for any NM money from the school. My son’s second choice school will allow him to accept the $2500, and they will give him the $2000/year starting sophomore year. Regardless, I find it strange that NM Finalists can get $8000 from school #1 but NM Finalists who are also Scholars, due to the offer of the $2500 one-time award, are limited to only that $2500. BUT - one of the schools did inform me that if my child had been given the $2000/year for four years, that amount would have just been subtracted from the academic merit money already awarded anyway, so the total would have been the same. School #2 said the $2000/year would have been subtracted from need-based money only. The NM money would be stackable on the other merit money already awarded. I guess it just depends on the school. It’s too bad that my son likes the first school better. Good luck.</p>
<p>I don’t think the USC Presidential 1/2 tuition scholarship is a NM official scholarship. S accepted the $2500 from NM and will still receive the 1/2 tuition from USC. The part I think he will miss out on is the $1000/yr that USC gives their NMF students.</p>
<p>year. Regardless, I find it strange that NM Finalists can get $8000 from school #1 but NM Finalists who are also Scholars, due to the offer of the $2500 one-time award, are limited to only that $2500</p>
<p>NMFinalists who get the $8k from a school are also “Scholars”. Getting the one time 2500 is NOT the only way to be a Scholar. </p>
<p>And…it depends on each schools’ rules. Some schools will let you accept the 2500 and you can still get the majority of the school’s NMF scholarship.</p>
<p>I don’t understand why a few schools aren’t letting kids decline the 2500 and accept thir NMF awards. I would call NMCorp and ask about that. They usually work with you to get you the most money. </p>
<p>Did you declare a Number 1 school or were you undecided?</p>
<p>^^^Sorry. I should have been more clear. My son would be a NM Scholar DUE TO the $2500 award only. His first choice institution will not allow him to decline the $2500 and still get NM money from them. If he declines the $2500 he would not be a NM Scholar since he would NOT be getting anything from the school in relation to NM, nor would he be getting the $2500. To my son, it does not matter if he is called a NM Scholar. He did declare a first choice school, and I have spoken with the NM Corp as well as the Financial Aid rep at the school. I even had them email the info to me just so I had it in writing. The rules are different for the various schools. My son’s second choice school will allow him to accept the $2500. They will award the $2000/year starting sophomore year. The first choice college will not. He either takes the $2500 or gets nothing related to NM from that institution.</p>
<p>In some ways it’s NMCorp’s fault. They should NOT do their awards until after the school and corporate awards are done…so as to not cause these problems at the schools that seem to be either stubborn or confused.</p>
<p>What I find interesting is that last April a mom asked something about NMF scholarships. I thought she was a mom of a junior with a high PSAT, so I pm’d her to give her the details about Bama’s NMF scholarship. Turns out the D was a senior and she was committed to Oklahoma. But, once the mom learned about Bama’s, she quickly made arrangements for a campus visit and within a week or so they toured. The D changed her choice and went to Bama. There wasn’t any problem with doing the change…even though she had committed to OU NMF scholarship. So, there seems to be some “loosey goosey” rules and it’s up to the schools whether to follow strictly or not. </p>
<p>I don’t like the fact that awarding the one time 2500 NMCorp scholarship is causing problems for some kids at a few schools. :(</p>
<p>Can we all agree that the NMCorp rules are more confusing than they need to be? A bunch of NM kids and the parents from whom they inherited those NM brains are confused!</p>
<p>New Rules for National Merit Finalists:
PSAT Score meets state cutoff.
SAT Score confirms PSAT Score.
Complete paperwork and essay on time.
Be smart enough to understand the NMCorp rules.</p>
<ol>
<li> Name a number one choice early (and change later) and if your stats are so high that you’re a likely one-time 2500 recipient, let NMCorp know that you want to be contacted first before such an award in case it interferes with the college award.</li>
</ol>
<p>It would also be nice if there were some rhyme or reason to how NMSC awards the $2500 scholarships. D1 is a scholar from last year, and received the 4 x $1K “official” NMSC scholarship from U of Minn. Her stats were 3.99UW/4.15W, 36 ACT (twice), 2400 SAT so if the $2500 were strictly stat-based I would’ve thought she would be considered. She had U of Minn listed as her first-choice from the beginning of the process, but who knows if that has any impact on NMSC’s deliberations? If I were making the decisions, the $2500 scholarships would go to Finalists who list first choice schools that don’t offer “official” NM scholarships…but that would take the mystery out of the whole process. :)</p>
<p>I had a question. I just found out I received one of NMSC’s college renewable scholarships, but I have to decline it because I just can’t afford to go to the university in question even with the scholarship. Because some are declining the $2500 one-time awards, do I have any chance at receiving another scholarship? Just wondering. And congrats to all other winners after this long two-year process draws to a close.</p>