<p>Hi,</p>
<p>Sorry if this has been posted somewhere. I have looked extensively.</p>
<p>I am a freshman looking to transfer this fall. I was a national merit finalist (I am currently attending McGill, which is out of the U.S. so I did not qualify for any of the scholarships). I was wondering whether any schools would be willing to give the national merit scholarship to a transfer.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>I don’t think so. I’ll let you know if I find any.</p>
<p>Are you unhappy where you are?</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>McGill is great. The people are very nice, and the city is great. It is no longer the right place for me, given what I want to do.</p>
<p>If you already have the National Merit money at a college (I’m a freshman at Vanderbilt University), and decide to transfer, does the new college (if they’re one of those who do indeed offer NM scholarships) continue providing National Merit award money?</p>
<p>^^^^</p>
<p>The NMCorp scholarship is for one year only.</p>
<p>If you have a multi-year scholarship (like $5k per year) then that is from Vandy, and the $$ will end if you leave Vandy. Your new school would not start paying you any money if you transfer.</p>
<p>Why do you want to leave Vandy?</p>
<p>Hi laissezfaire!</p>
<p>Hey sorry for the super late response -
I have the multi-year scholarship which I believe is 4-5k per year and Vanderbilt also has some awesome policy (I think) that basically matches that amount in their own scholarship offerings. I was thinking it would end if I left Vandy, and that could end up being a problem (though some people have told me that apparently another top college would match my financial aid package from Vanderbilt if I sent it to them? I sort of doubt that).
I don’t necessarily want to leave Vandy, I’ve just been considering it. I’m not unhappy here but I’m from about an hour away from Emory and was thinking about transferring there, mostly because I love Atlanta (and ew @ Nashville! For me anyway. I liked it for a while but I need a real city tbh) and my parents would really appreciate my being closer to home. Initially, one of the main reasons I -didn’t- go to Emory (possibly a stupid decision on my part, the Emory Scholar’s program had offered me 11k/year in merit money and the fin aid package was only very slightly less generous than that at Vanderbilt) was because I thought it would be -too- close to home. I now think otherwise. SO basically it’s just location, I consider it a chance to be happiER, it’s not that I’m not already happy. That’s why this decision is a difficult one lol.</p>
<p>though some people have told me that apparently another top college would match my financial aid package from Vanderbilt if I sent it to them? I sort of doubt that).</p>
<p>That sometimes works for incoming freshmen. I don’t think that works for transfers. Be careful with what you hear…people often confuse what’s given to freshmen with what is given to transfers …get everything in writing from the school itself.</p>
<p>You will lose that NMF scholarship from Vandy if you leave. You won’t likely get that $11k in merit from Emory either. That was an incentive for you to come as a freshman…not as a transfer. </p>
<p>I don’t know how Emory is with FA, but many schools are not as generous with FA with transfer students.</p>
<p>If money is an issue, then this decision may not be so hard after all. :)</p>
<p>To get the national merit scholarship from a college, you need to indicate to NMSC that college is your first choice. laissezfaire, you had that chance last year and you either did not nominate a college or did not take the college you choose. As I read it, you have lost your chance. Colleges may still give you a scholarship as you are national merit finalist but are under no obligation to do so (so that will give them bragging rights) but they cannot call you a NM award winner. Talk to each college you are interested.</p>
<p>INVENIAMVIAM, same thing holds, talk to Emory and find out what they will offer. Usually transfer students do not get a good deal.</p>
<p>Oh I definitely know they wouldn’t give me the 11k of merit money. That was a thing that I applied for as an incoming freshman, I wouldn’t expect them to extend that offer, it would be ridiculous.</p>
<p>INVENIAMVIAM, you would loose nothing by talking to them. The issue is bragging rights for schools: “we have so many NMF attending our school”. Schools like Harvard don’t care, some do. </p>
<p>You are still a NMF, no one can take that away from you. So they may show you some consideration for that (not a given but a possibility in some schools), so mention to them you are a NMF and see what they say.</p>
<p>Hmm, okay, that makes sense. I will surely mention it, and see what happens. I’ve also been told by several people (who apparently know what they’re talking about) now to definitely send along Vandy’s financial aid package just so that they see what I’m being offered elsewhere (though, yes, I’ve always been aware that transfer FA typically SUCKS). I know that I’m very qualified for the school, I have a 4.0 at Vanderbilt right now and this semester’s grades are going similarly well, and hopefully all of that would be incentive for Emory to want to step it up as far as financial aid goes. I don’t know. We shall see haha.</p>