<p>So, I'm filling out the NMSF Application, and I'm having trouble deciding which college to put as my first choice. Both my first and my second choices don't participate in the National Merit Program, but my third choice offers hefty scholarships if named first choice on the application. I plan on applying SCEA to my first choice though. Would I run into trouble if I didn't put them on my app? Or even if it didn't break any formal rules, would it still be looked upon negatively by both colleges involved?</p>
<p>Isn’t there a choice for undecided?</p>
<p>If a college doesn’t participate in the NM program, they aren’t going to care if you designate a school that does. There are only 2 SCEA schools in the nation and neither of them gives a hoot about students listing them, they have extremely high yield rates and don’t care about applicants showing ‘interest’.</p>
<p>Thank you entomom. I was figuring this would be the case, but I just wanted to make sure.</p>
<p>At this stage put undecided. You can always change it later.</p>
<p>How long exactly do we have to change it? I’m a little unclear… And which schools will give me a scholarship? I have a list of NM schools, but it says some of them gave out 3 awards, whereas others gave out 75. So how do I know which ones I could win? Basically…how do I choose the first choice college?</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>It depends on the school. It seems to me that the schools that only give out a limited number of NMF scholarships have an early date that you must pick them as #1 (like by Feb or March - check each school’s website for dates). </p>
<p>It makes sense that those schools who only award a limited number of NMF scholarships would have early deadlines so that they could decide from their applicants who should get the award.</p>
<p>However…The schools that award unlimited NMF scholarships (like Bama), will let you select them as first choice by April/May (or sometimes even later). </p>
<p>And which schools will give me a scholarship? I have a list of NM schools, but it says some of them gave out 3 awards, whereas others gave out 75. So how do I know which ones I could win?</p>
<p>I would guess that if you apply to a school that only gives out a limited number of NMF scholarships, then your SAT/ACT and GPA would have to be very high in order to get their NMF scholarship. </p>
<p>So, if a school only awards 10 NMF scholarships and has 25 NMF applicants, then the 10 with the best overall stats will likely get those NMF scholarships.</p>
<p>Be sure to look at award amounts as well. Some colleges only award small amounts of money, while some offer free tuition or free rides.</p>
<p>The ONLY way you can know for sure which NMF scholarships you could win is by applying to a school that awards NMF scholarships to EVERY NMF student. </p>
<p>Many NMF students apply to at least one of the schools that give big NMF scholarships to every student as their financial safety schools.</p>
<p>Thanks for your help, mom!
I just have a few other questions:</p>
<ol>
<li>USC gives half-tuition to NMF guaranteed; I think I’m applying there.</li>
</ol>
<p>But it’s not my first choice. Should I look at the websites of all the colleges to which I plan to apply, see which of my top choices offer the best awards, and select one of those schools as my top choice? Then if I don’t win that award, will I still have time to switch USC to #1?</p>
<ol>
<li>And what if I don’t get into school a, which I choose as my first choice? Will I still have time to switch to school b, which is higher up on my list than USC but offers competitive NMF aid? Or by the time admissions decisions roll around, would school b already have given away all their offers? … So I should try to select a school that I not only want to attend, but which I also have a good chance of gaining acceptance to?</li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks very much for you help!</p>
<p>Oh, and</p>
<ol>
<li>Do some schools award NMF money based on need? Would this be clear on the website?</li>
</ol>
<p>3. Do some schools award NMF money based on need? Would this be clear on the website?</p>
<p>NO, NMF is a merit scholarship. I have not heard of any college give NMS’s based on need. Some are selective i.e. give only a few NM scholarship and they could use any criteria including need, but it is by no means a need based scholarship</p>
<p>you need to contact USC and find out what their deadline is for naming them as #1 choice.</p>
<p>Since they notify NMF award winners by April 1, that means that they must have a much earlier deadline.</p>
<p>USC NATIONAL MERIT FINALIST PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLARSHIPS
Amount Half tuition (approximately $19,285)
Number of awards Varies
Notification date By April 1, 2010
Selection Criteria</p>
<p>Selected on the basis of PSAT performance. Entering freshmen are considered if they have been designated National Merit Finalists and name USC as their first-choice college with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.
Application process</p>
<p>Students will be contacted by the sponsoring agency.</p>
<p>But it’s not my first choice. Should I look at the websites of all the colleges to which I plan to apply, see which of my top choices offer the best awards, and select one of those schools as my top choice? Then if I don’t win that award, will I still have time to switch USC to #1?</p>
<p>What is your #1 choice?</p>
<p>^^^sorry I was unclear; I meant, do some schools use need as criteria? And would that be clear on their websites? </p>
<p>Sorry for all the questions… but I’ve got one more!</p>
<ol>
<li>I know that most NMSF make NMF barring a poor GPA or not turning in paperwork. But of the 15,000 NMF, only the top 2,500 get scholarships from NM corp. itself, right? And NM looks at your finalist app to determine who is in that 2,500. So while I’m not stressing about making NMF, should I still stress about making that 2,500? If, for example, I have SATs>2200, but I’m retaking in Oct., should I just send in the >2200? Or wait till I get the Oct. scores and only send in the best ones?</li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks so much for any help, and sorry OP if I hijacked your thread…</p>
<p>
I’m not entirely sure… I’m applying EA to University of Chicago. I really like Yale but they don’t offer NMF money, so that’s kind of irrelevant. I want to pick a school I really like, but that will also have substantial, relatively-less competitive scholarships, right? So for instance if my first choice, school a, has 2 very competitive NMF scholarships, whereas my second choice, school b, has 20 not-so-competitive scholarships for $1000, and my third choice, school c, has 80 mildly competitive scholarships for half tuition, I should put school c as my third choice, right?</p>
<p>Would it help you to just see a list of where I’m applying?</p>
<p>^^There’s no guarantee that you will receive the $2500 scholarship. I’m not sure how exactly are the scholarship recipients chosen, but it does have something to do with your state of residency, like the semifinalist process.</p>
<p>Yeah, I know. That’s why I’m wondering whether I should put a lot of effort into the application, to give me a boost in that final round where they choose the 2500 winners.</p>
<p>Unless one of your schools insists on an earlier date to specify your first-choice, I recommend leaving it as “undecided” for now. For USC’s 1/2 tuition NMS Presidential Scholarship, you have at least until April to designate USC as your first-choice, as long as you do not have another school listed as first choice in the meantime. At USC, the NMS scholarship is currently $20,192/year from USC plus $1,000 from NMC for a total of $21,192/year.</p>
<p>what about fordham? do i need to put that college as my first choice to get the scholarship, or no?</p>
<p>Yes…you would need to name Fordham to get the scholarship.</p>
<p>Quomodo…</p>
<p>Did you find out if/when USC has a deadline for being named first choice? </p>
<p>Which schools are you considering besides USC, Yale and UChicago?</p>
<p>So here was d’s theory…and this is a way different situation for her, as she’ll be auditioning for musical theatre programs – some schools will accept academically way before an artistic acceptance or denial…think we need to call NMSF with some questions about those details…anyway…3 of her schools participate.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Has a March notification for “first choice” status. Academically, she’s in, artistically, who knows? (She’s looking at a program that auditioned 2400 students for 14 slots last year…). Anyway, they offer up to 50 NMS (large, public U). By March, she’ll either know if she’s not in contention for the musical theatre program, or waiting until May 1 to hear. For those 50 who are offered NMF, everything is covered. Not sure exactly what the terms are for the competitive NMF awards are yet.</p></li>
<li><p>Uses NMF’s date, offers $5000 annually. Still artistically competitive, but not quite as long odds of acceptance as #1. May also force her to wait until the May 1 date for artistic decision.</p></li>
<li><p>Traditionally offers pretty much full tuition to all NMF who select them by final date, possibly even later (historically). Last year, program audtioned 6000 to yield 12 accepted. Academically very safe. Will have to go through audition process twice for them (pre-screen, then on-campus if invited…)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>She marked #1 as first choice, as they have the sooner date and are competitive. She’ll audition in December. Hopefully before the final date, she’ll have an idea if she should move to undecided or the other programs… Does that seem like good logic??</p>