<p>azmom–thank you so much for updating all of us! </p>
<p>I’m glad to hear that there are $2500 scholarships still available; that is different from the impression I got when NM asked my D to name a college immediately back in March, but yours is straight from the horse’s mouth and quite current, so I am confident that your info is correct! This is a case where I am glad, for your sake, that I was wrong!</p>
<p>The fact that NM can provide people with the name of the college’s NM contact is great. My experience with calling admissions and financial aid offices is that information can vary greatly depending on the person to whom one speaks. (My favorite was the woman at Stanford who knew the difference between income beneficiaries and contingent beneficiaries of a trust; my least favorite was at another college where the responder read to me from the website, which didn’t really answer my question or I wouldn’t have called.) </p>
<p>Thanks also for the update that all finalists will get some notification in May. </p>
<p>I am sorry that I was wrong (I hate to be wrong!) but appreciate your correcting me and updating this for the benefit of others!</p>
<p>Go to the Nationalmerit.org website. Then select FORMS (to the right of the screen). You will see a link to the form called College Choice: Report or Change. Instructions are on the form.</p>
<p>The first day that college sponsored offers are mailed are April 27. So if you are expecting a college scholarship and you do not want that or want to wait then you need to have changed by April 27th. If they already mailed you an offer then you cannot change after that i.e. you will not get another college scholarship (official portion). </p>
<p>The last date to change is May 31. So if you got say NMSC’s own scholarship and then decide to change schools, you could do so before May 31st. Hope this makes sense or I can try and explain further.</p>
<p>I want to apply to BS/MD at LESS competitive schools (UCincinnati, Saint Louis University, University of Illinois @ Chicago GPPA) but these programs are obviously more competitive, and my chances of getting in are smaller. </p>
<p>Regular UG, I would apply to Pitt, Northwestern, and a few others. </p>
<p>SO, would it be better to give it to the BS/MD schools (which are ideally my first choice) or my regular UG school? Which ones would care more? </p>
S2, a rising Sr., should be NM semi-finalist (has 225 in NY). Among the schools he is very interested in are Northeastern and USC, both of which offer substantial merit awards for NM finalists. Both say on their websites this is contingent on student listing school as first choice w/NM. Question: What should he do if, by October when NM application is due, he’s uncertain which of two he is leaning toward? Say “undecided”? I understand he can list one and then change it w/NM, until May. But would he need to change it by March 1, when NM starts notifying schools? Or should he, otherwise the school he switches to would feel like they really weren’t “first” choice," and possibly deny or lower his NM award?
“What should he do if, by October when NM application is due, he’s uncertain which of two he is leaning toward?”
leave it blank.
there is no need to declare his first choice until after he knows where he has been accepted.
USC looks ONLY at the FINAL NM list, AFTER students have declared their FINAL first choice to NM.
. USC THEN matches up those students who have declared their intention to enroll to USC with the names on that that list.
I realize that this is an old thread, but it has a lot of great info and I think it’s worth keeping it going. I’m still confused, though. Boston U requires that they be listed as 1st choice by March 1. This seems crazy since we likely will not get an admission decision until late March! Other schools where DS has already been admitted have later deadlines (April 3 for Northeastern, even later for others). I have NO idea what DS’s real 1st choice will be - it depends in part on $$, in part on going back to re-visit schools to talk in more detail about the 2 areas that he wants to study. Is it true that he can designate BU as 1st for now, and that he can change it before May 1 (or sometime in late Apriil) without any danger? The danger would be that he gets NM award from BU but then decides to go elsewhere, and then he can’t get NM award anywhere else. This is a real risk as he could be admitted for 1 major but not both, get NM award, but not want to attend if he can’t do both majors. Aaargh, WHY do they do this to these kids? Any advice appreciated!
I am pretty set on going to Carroll in Helena, MT, which doesn’t offer any scholarships. Should I list Carroll as my first-choice school or list a safety school that does offer scholarships?
We know our daughter’s first choice college gives a $1K yearly award to all NMF. My husband’s company also has a corporate scholarship (we don’t know the amount). Will she still be considered for the corporate scholarship even though Purdue has an automatic one?
. "Is it true that he can designate BU as 1st for now, and that he can change it before May 1 (or sometime in late Apriil) without any danger? "
YES. His FINAL first choice should the the college that he WILL be attending.
Thats the one that counts with NM .So relax. And make sure he sends his final choice college name to NM no later then May 1.
"Will she still be considered for the corporate scholarship even though Purdue has an automatic one? "
She has to CHOOSE which scholarship to accept- the corporate one OR the one from the college. She should accept the one that pays more.
They WONT stack .
Since it looks like this thread is still active I’m going to ask if someone can clarify…so if Kid were to put School A as first choice, and is offered a scholarship with admission, which he won’t know till late March, he can change the choice before accepting the offer. But he won’t really be able to compare offers, because the other school won’t include an NMF offer. Some schools like Boston have a pretty generous offer to all NMFs who make it first choice, but others have no guarantee, like USC.
Let’s say he chooses USC as first choice but they don’t admit him. He has then lost the great deal at BU, even if he switches the first choice in April. All the scholarships may have been given out by then, or so it sounds from the NMF letter. Or he accepts BU and then has to turn down USC, never knowing if he might have gotten a better offer there.
It really is just betting the odds. Nasty business! The stress continues. Every school seems to think they are so unique that students should know absolutely that it is the one true school for them and prove their undying loyalty to get the best offer. And if you don’t, well sorry Charlie, it’s a lifetime of loans for you. The very existence of this website demonstrates otherwise, as students and parents clearly are comparing and contrasting options until the final decision is made; lots of kids don’t have one “first choice.” I’m glad there are many high quality education choices but it makes it even harder to decide.
" But he won’t really be able to compare offers, because the other school won’t include an NMF offer.
Or he accepts BU and then has to turn down USC, never knowing if he might have gotten a better offer there."
"
wrong.
USC , as well as other colleges, state RIGHT UP FRONT the amount of their NM scholarships. So it should be easy to figure out which school is more affordable from that standpoint.
“All the scholarships may have been given out by then, or so it sounds from the NMF letter.”
wrong again.
Colleges dont offer the NM scholarships to one accepted NMF and NOT to another accepted NMF, just because ONE of the students initially listed the college as their “first choice”
.
If you are a NMF, AND are accepted, AND you inform the college you will be enrolling AND list them as your first choice to NMC by the deadline -MAY 1- you WILL receive their NM scholarship.
After NM receives the FINAL first choice decisions from students, they then inform the colleges of the names of students who are NMF’s, which happens sometime in late May/ June. The students who are on that FINAL list, and who have committed to enroll at a college that offers NM scholarships, are the ones that will receive the NM scholarships offered by the college. Period.
a student does NOT have to inform a college or NM of their FIRST choice at ANY TIME before HE ACTUALLY DECIDES WHERE HE IS GOING. You DONT GAIN ANYTHING by trying to game the system.
. so relax.
Wait until you know where you have been accepted, and then decide.
USC’s page says that NMF’s “will be considered” for the scholarship if they put USC first. It doesn’t say they will get anything at all. And it doesn’t say they have any chance if they don’t put USC first. BU on the other hand does say the scholarship will be awarded to NMFs who put them first choice.
So, I just had a conversation with the financial aid office at BU and it was incredibly frustrating. Since my kid is applying for dual degree (majors in 2 different colleges at BU), my concern is that he will be admitted to 1 but not the other, awarded a NM scholarship, which he will then turn down (he’s not going unless he gets into both) – and then he will have lost the chance to get a NM scholarship elsewhere (since you can’t be awarded one more than once). I explained my frustration to the BU person – how can they expect him to turn down a guaranteed NM scholarship at a school where he’s already admitted, for something that he might not even get at BU – and her response was just, sorry, we have too many NM scholars already, we don’t need you. Well, ok then. BU may well be my son’s first choice, but he is not stupid. We cannot afford to send him to BU without the scholarship, so it looks like he will not be going to BU. I’m really pulling my hair out. Does anyone see any way around this?
Any advice appreciated!