<p>Just found out my son told national merit scholarship program a school when they called via phone . . . he doesn't know how long ago this was. They apparently told him he was being considered for an outside (corporate)scholarship. (I didn't think he would be considered for corporate as husband and I do not work for any sponsoring corps) He states they told him he had to state a school. From what I remember this is a big mistake?!? I have to leave for work so can't research this now - I'm hoping I may be able to get on cc at work and have a response.</p>
<p>This sounds off to me. I've never heard of the NMSC contacting students by phone. Is it possible that your son was contacted by a school rep, or possibly a member of a local scholarship committee?</p>
<p>They can't make him commit to a school now. Many, if not most acceptance letters/e-mails haven't even gone out yet. My son was asked for a college name early as a place-holder. He was told he could change it before May 1, I think. Interestingly, the school he picked as the place-holder was the one he eventually chose to attend. The NM people actually answer their phone. You can talk to a human being--so give them a call and they will allay your worries.</p>
<p>cross-posted with frazzled--the phone part sounded odd to me too, but my son was asked for a college name early in the process--just not to commit to a school early. Call NM and they will get you straightened out.</p>
<p>Forgot most of my stuff this am . . . had to come back and thought what the heck . . . I'll just be late to work and try and get this resolved. I found this recent post:</p>
<p>One reason to choose a college </p>
<hr>
<p>We were delaying my son's choice until his admissions letters arrived, and even ignored a memo urging him to fax NMSC a tentative choice. Then he got a call from a NMSC rep, who said that he was being considered for a scholarship, (a corporate one, it turns out) and they couldn't start processing it until they had a college listed. When I pointed out that this might do him out of a scholarship at another school, she was sympathetic, but he still had to list a choice. She pointed out that most schools offer finalists scholarships, even if not recieving the official institutional Nat'l Merit scholarship for that school. What a game!</p>
<p>I guess I'll call them . . . son gave them the absolutely worst case scenario for his college choice . . . his financial safety from which he already has a full tuition scholarship so naming them will have absolutely no benefit.</p>
<p>I haven't understood the NM scholarship rules. I know a kid has to name a school, but what if they are not accepted by that institution? Do they name a different one? Does the school get notified the student has selected them?</p>
<p>The school does get notified. For this reason my son chose to list the one school on his list that gave NM scholarships that he thought he needed an extra admissions boost for. So he must have listed it before he was admitted to that school in late Feb. But, had he decided on a different school, he could have changed it to that school. The whole thing felt very complicated and convoluted to me. I ended up calling them several times. In the end, my son got a corporate scholarship through his Dad's company.</p>
<p>wedgedrive, the kid can name a school or put "undecided" and has until (approximately) May 1 to change the choice. </p>
<p>My son put down a school that didn't offer NM scholarships, then changed to undecided in early Mar. (IIRC). He waited to put down his school until he'd made his final choice. He just faxed it to them. The NM website has pdfs with all the info.</p>
<p>kimfred, your situation sounds really frustrating. For one thing, I believe (don't take my word for it) that corporate and the NM scholarships given out by NM itself are only for one year. This is something to be taken into account, since the ones offered by the colleges are (usually, I believe) for all four years. My son's college wrote off loans with the NMF scholarship they gave him.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Bethievt,
Thanks. How would we find out which schools give NM Scholarships?</p>
<p>If you get a scholarship from NM, you'll get a letter from them with a form that allows you to change the name of the school you'll be attending. (This is true at least for their own $2500 scholarship, but I'd think it's the same for the corporate ones).</p>