<p>I received an updated FAid letter today from Tufts telling me that I had received a $2000 Tufts National Merit Scholarship...I had originally listed Tufts when I was awarded NM semi-finalists status, but will not be attending because I got better aid from another great school. What's weird is that I never got a letter from Nat. Merit telling me that I had received a scholarship as a finalist, so I'm not sure if this is just a Tufts thing or not. Did anyone else get such a letter from Tufts or any other college and is it too late to switch the merit scholarship to another school?</p>
<p>^jazzum…NMSC doesn’t send out notifications of college sponsored “official” NMSC scholarships until the end of April, so it’s not uncommon for you to hear the news from the university first. D1 got the National Merit Scholarship from U of Minnesota and was notified by the university back in March. Her notification from NMSC will come sometime around the end of this month. You can call NMSC to ask about switching, but since you’ve already been awarded an “official” NMSC scholarship you cannot be awarded a second one. It does say in their instruction sheet:</p>
<p>“A college-sponsored Merit Scholarship award can be used only at the institution financing it and therefore is canceled if the winner changes college choice.”</p>
<p>So I wouldn’t hold out hope that you can switch colleges and get money there, but go ahead and call. The worst they can do is say no. Congrats and Good Luck!!</p>
<p>NMSC started sending your name to colleges from March 1st. So Tufts has your name as first choice. I think that if you now go to undecided or change your college (before April 27 when they start sending the official letter from NMSC) you would be OK. Call NMSC right away on Monday and change your college choice. My take is that you are awarded only when NMSC sends you the letter and they will not send you a letter until April 27th so you can still pre-empt it. For example if a person has first choice and did not get into that school, they should still be able to change schools once the decision is made. By the same token I think you would be allowed to change schools.</p>
<p>Call NMSC and let us know what happened. </p>
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<p>I went back through the rules and you are OK. Change it right away (definately before April 27th, preferably on Monday). This is what the instructions says</p>
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<p>SCholade has thread which talks about how to make the first choice decision. It is best to be undecided as long as you need to be.</p>
<p>jazzum…I hope that you are able to change your first choice and get some extra funds wherever you will be attending. If you get a chance, please post back to this thread whether or not you were able to change and whether you were able to get an additional scholarship from the new school. It may help to clarify things for future NMF’s that find themselves in the same situation. Thanks and Good Luck!!</p>
<p>thanks for the help everyone!!! I’ll let you know what I find out.:))</p>
<p>do any of you know the best number to reach a live person at NMerit? Also, I’m wondering if I should stay undecided until the May deadline since I’m on the waitlist at an Ivy? I thought the NM scholarship is usually $2500 for 4 years…my Tufts letter says $2000 for 4 years.</p>
<p>No, you are mixing up things.</p>
<p>There are different types of scholarships based on the source. If you had a corporate sponsor, you would have known about it by now. Similarly, if you got NMSC’s own scholarship (which is $2500 one time i.e. $2500 total and you will not get it for 4 years) you would have known about it.</p>
<p>Some Colleges give National Merit Scholarships (from their own money) and the official (NMSC) component which is between $500 to $2000 a year for 4 years. The official component is the one that allows you to call yourself a National Merit Scholar.</p>
<p>In addition Colleges may give free tuition, room and board etc, but not all colleges give that and that is the unofficial component (I call them the extra goodies). There is a whole thread on which colleges give good packages (official and extra goodies) to NMF’s.</p>
<p>Tufts has give you $2000 a year for 4 years, which is the maximum official component. I am assuming you are not going to Tufts and have made up your mind about that. Correct? </p>
<p>Ivy’s do not give National Merit Scholarships (to clarify they do not give scholarships from their own money but if you get say a corporate scholarship or NMSC’s own scholarship, you can use it at that college). So an Ivy decision has no impact on you getting a scholarship. In other words, if you go to an Ivy at this stage, you will not get a national merit scholarship. It is too later for that. You can off course get other aid which may be better.</p>
<p>Your only chance of getting another National Merit Scholarship is from another college. So does the college that you have in mind give National Merit Scholarships? You can post the name on this forum and someone can tell you or you can do your reserach (colleges website, call them etc.). If the college does not give national merit scholarships, then there is nothing you can do about and by not going to Tufts you have given up your chance. If they do, find out the rules. Can you still make them the first choice and have a shot at the scholarship? If so name them now.</p>
<p>I know this sounds a little complicated but the bottom line is that your only chance of getting a National Merit Scholarship is from a college and Ivys will not give you money. So if you want a National Merit Scholarship and you do not want to go to Tufts, your other school should be the one that gives you the National Merit Scholarship.</p>
<p>thanks for the great clarification mazewanderer…the school I want to attend is WashUSL…do you or anyone else know whether they give out national merit scholarships?thanks again for all your help!</p>
<p>From what I remember (and I did a quick search on their website), Wash U STL, does not give National Merit Scholarships but do have a lot of National Merit winners attending it (recipients of corporate or NMSC’s own scholarships). If I were you, I would still change to Wash U STL if you have firmly decided not to go to Tufts, but do not expect any NM scholarships from them. Same goes for Ivy’s.</p>
<p>I believe WashU is a sponsor college of National Merit Scholarship. In any case, since none of the IVYs are sponsor schools, you shall change your college designation to WashU.</p>
<p>I think you’re right Christian…found this on a 2009 thread about WashU and NM scholarships…hope this is still the case!</p>
<p>Washington University supports the
goals ofthe National Merit Scholarship
programs. The type of National Merit
Scholarship you receive is determined
by the National Merit Scholarship Cor-
poration. If you are selected by the
National Merit Scholarship Corporation
for its one-time $2,500 National Merit-
sponsored scholarship, we are commit-
ted to continuing this scholarship for
you in your upperclass years at Washington University.
If you are selected as a National Merit finalist and are
not offered another type of National
Merit Scholarship, you will be eligible
for a $2,000 annually renewable
Washington University college-spon-
sored National Merit Scholarship. To be
eligible for these awards, declare
Washington University as your first
choice school by the National Merit
deadline. This award will be in addition
to any other scholarship support for
which you may be eligible."</p>
<p>Can you call Wash U at St. Louis, and find out. I did not find anything on their website. I am not saying they do not offer it, I am not just able to find it. Things could have changed.</p>
<p>Also, if you have decided to go to Wash U at SL, you may as well change it. What is your status, are you still thinking or have you made up your mind?</p>
<p>I just went to WashU’s web site and search for “National Merit Scholarship” and found that WashU still supports the NMS program just like what jazzum quoted.</p>
<p>we spoke to Fin. Aid today @ WashU and they are honoring the 2K NMS and aren’t reducing the rest of my aid. Great school with a really good vibe…2x the aid that I got from Tufts, Gtown, etc…so it’s a no-brainer!</p>
<p>Congrats jazzum!! Hope your S enjoys WUStL!!</p>