For national merit finalists that listed rice as their first choice

Colleges and Universities A-Z Rice University
1

<p>Have any of y'all recently received a letter from the national merit scholarship corps? I'm pretty confused by the one that came in my mail on Saturday, saying "we sincerely regret that you are not among the scholarship recipients named to date," although I'm positive that I met the three criteria for the $1000/year finalist scholarship.</p>

<p>Have any of you guys heard anything?</p>

2

<p>The scholarship from National Merit is different than the $1,000/year scholarship from Rice. It sounds like you didn’t receive
one of the National Merit sponsored scholarships since the letter you received is from the NMSC people and not from Rice. You should receive the Rice National Merit $1,000/year scholarship though. I would call Rice and make sure.</p>

<p>It is confusing because National Merit Scholarships can be officially sponsored by either the NM Corp. or by the universities, but not both. One cannot receive a Rice National Merit Scholarship if he has already received the National Merit Corp. $2,500 Scholarship. In your case, your are probably better off since $1,000/yr is better than a one-time $2,500 scholarship.</p>

3

<p>Rice screws you over if you actually take the $2,500 national merit scholarship - you can’t get the $1,000/year. That’s the only complaint I’ve ever had about the financial aid office.</p>

4

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<p>That’s technically National Merit policy, anyway. Rice just doesn’t give you anything extra.</p>

<p>As for the original question, though, I also received that letter from NMSC. I don’t recall receiving anything from Rice regarding National Merit at any point. If I remember correctly, the first I heard about getting the $1,000/year scholarship was when it showed up as a deduction from my tuition bill. It may have showed up on the financial aid tab on ESTHER prior to that; I can’t remember for sure.</p>

5

<p>My S changed his first choice to Rice late in April, so that is why, at least I’m guessing that is why, he has not heard anything from Rice about the scholarship. However, we’ve been told that it will not be added on to his award, it will just replace Rice grant monies (due to generous aid award).</p>