<p>and I win the scholarship from that school, then decide that I would rather attend a different school (one that does not offer a National Merit Scholarship) am I still eligible for the 2500 dollar scholarship? If not, then should I pick as a first choice the school that does not offer a National Merit Scholarship so that I am not overlooked in the 2500 dollar selection process?</p>
<p>I'm sorry, that was a bit longwinded.</p>
<p>I believe that the letters we received stated that once you win a National Merit scholarship (whether it is school-based, the $2500, or corporation-sponsored) and are notified about it, you are no longer eligible for any other National Merit scholarships, even if you change your first-choice school.</p>
<p>So basically, it’s a gamble. If you are sure that you will go to that school if you get the scholarship from them-- leave it as your first choice. If you have other options and the $2500 is a big deal for you financially, leave it as “undecided”.</p>
<p>From what I’ve read on other threads, it sounds like the NMC wants students to be able to maximize their opportunities. If you are offered a greater NM scholarship from a college and are also offered the $2500 one time scholarship from NM, I’m pretty sure you can turn down the one-time scholarship and take the school scholarship. However, once you’ve “accepted” an offer, that’s it.</p>
<p>If I remember correctly, the $2500 one time awards are decided quite late…probably so that NMCorp can figure out who got a school scholarship and who got a corporate scholarship. then they decide who gets the one time award. </p>
<p>Anyway…for those who are undecided right now…just leave your pick as “undecided.”</p>
<p>The finalist letter I got says this:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>In all honesty, Duke is my first-choice school. If I don’t get in to Duke, or don’t receive substantial aid money from them, though, I will likely attend University of Alabama through their NMF program.</p>
<p>Who do I report as my first choice college? It is my understanding that I have to report a first choice in order to receive an award, even the $2,500 single-payment award. If I list Duke, I am eligible for the $2,500 scholarship but not the full benefits at Alabama (laptop, etc.). If I list Alabama, I am eligible for the laptop, but not the $2,500 if I attend Duke.</p>
<p>Anyone else totally confused by this? :D</p>
<p>lutherjw…According to NMSC’s website:</p>
<p>“National Merit® $2500 Scholarships
Every Finalist competes for these single payment scholarships, which are awarded on a state representational basis. Winners are selected without consideration of family financial circumstances, college choice, or major and career plans.”</p>
<p>Not sure how to interpret the “without consideration of college choice” part though. Whether it means you don’t need to declare one yet is questionable, but to me it means you can be offered one as an “Undecided”. Regarding your particular situation, unless the $2500 one-time is a deal breaker for whether you can attend Duke or not I’d strongly recommend you list Alabama as your first choice and have the safety school scholarship “in hand”. Your call, but weighing a full-ride plus versus $2500 one-time (a drop in the bucket in the overall scheme of Duke attendance) I think you’re better off listing Bama. Good Luck!!</p>
<p>I would agree with Wolverine here – From a financial standpoint, You need to list Bama as your first choice school. Their NM scholarship is one of the best in the country. Besides, it sounds like if you do decide to attend Duke, you could change your status to “undecided” again by April 27 – since Duke is not a sponsor school, you won’t be restricted from getting the $2500 award.</p>
<p>@lutherjw, if you are undecided, then select “undecided”. This is the safest thing to do. You have plenty of time to decide.</p>
<p>I think the recipients of the $2,500 awards have already been selected. Somewhere I recall reading that committees began meeting in January to make selections. They just notify late. </p>
<p>Also, letter is very clear about stating that you must have submitted a first choice selection to receive ANY award.</p>
<p>^^ “Also, letter is very clear about stating that you must have submitted a first choice selection to receive ANY award”</p>
<p>The letter states that to receive one of the 4,900 College Sponsored awards, you must select a first choice sponsor college by May 31, 2011. </p>
<p>If you are undecided, the safest thing to do is report yourself “undecided” until you know where you are going.</p>
<p>^The only potential problem I see with waiting to declare a first choice school is that the one-time $2500 awards are sent out prior to the university sponsored awards. This year’s finalist letters clearly stated (as well as this year’s instructions on the NMSC website) that students would only be offered one official NMSC scholarship. If you’re waiting to declare a first choice university and get offered a $2500 award, you won’t be able to change from “undecided” after the fact and then get a university sponsored award. In many cases it might make a difference of $1500 (one-time $2500 versus $1K/year for 4 years) but it’s still a potential loss of funds. Maybe NMSC doesn’t follow their own guidelines or maybe this year’s rules are different?</p>
<p>As my daughter is also “undecided”, I called NMC to ask about this today. I interpreted what I was told as follows:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>you have to have a first choice selected to get any award </p></li>
<li><p>Although officially, you can change your choice until May 31, in practicality, you only have until April 27. That is the date they start sending out the school offers. Once you’ve been made an offer, you can’t change schools.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Yep. I called too and that is exactly what they told me. You MUST pick a school to be considered for any award, even the $2500.</p>
<p>Luther…</p>
<p>You can wait a bit before naming a first choice school. Bama doesn’t require you to name them as first choice this soon.</p>
<p>See if you get admitted to Duke, and if you don’t, then name Bama.</p>
<p>Are the $2500 awards and corporate awards handed out late enough that it’s “safe” to wait until April 27th to declare your first choice? </p>
<p>My son has 2 schools that seem to unofficially offer big $$ to NMFs without it actually being an official NM Scholarship (RIT and Drexel) and thus don’t play the first-choice game. He has 2 more that offer substantial awards as long as the student designates them as their first choice (Northeastern and WPI). Northeastern will unofficially award the student the (full-tuition) award by April 1, but they don’t require the student to name them as their first choice until April 26. We’re waiting for a call-back from WPI for their requirements as to designation date. </p>
<p>My S is waiting to hear from other schools that do not offer NMF scholarships, in which case he would hope to be considered for the $2500 awards or a corporate award. My company offers a $1K/year award that is competitive (they award two of them, out of many more NMFs among employees’ children each year). </p>
<p>He is currently undecided (with NMSC as well as actually not knowing where he wants to go). If I’m understanding correctly, the best course for my S is to stay undecided until he actually decides (sometime before April 26th) and then designate wherever he decides to go as his first choice. I’m just wondering if he’ll miss the boat on any of the possible scholarships by waiting until the 26th. </p>
<p>The prior posts have already answered my question as to whether there’s a “risk” of being awarded a $2500 scholarship while undecided, thus losing the opportunity to be awarded a larger award from a school should he chose one that offers big $$ to NMFs. (It appears there is no such risk, since no scholarship will be awarded while you are undecided.) </p>
<p>It <em>does</em> appear that there is a risk in naming a first choice early and then getting awarded something, and not being able to change to something else. So I think undecided is the “place to be” right now.</p>
<p>My S was undecided and he got a letter from NMSC stating that he was being considered for an award and needed to make a first choice selection but could change it any time. If you are being considered for an award, they will let you know, so you do not have to do it now.</p>
<p>^^Most helpful information, mazewanderer. Thank you for sharing this!</p>
<p>In light of Mazwanderer’s info, I’d like to ask a follow up question:</p>
<p>If one college has a deadline of March 1, and another has a deadline of April 15. Does it hurt to change between the two dates?</p>
<p>My daughter’s decision will rest on music school acceptances/scholarships, which won’t come out until mid-March. One school (March 1 deadline) is “safe” with a better NMF scholarship with which she would be happy, another (April 15th deadline) is her true first choice with a potential big payoff from the music school, but smaller NMF award.</p>
<p>What is a good strategy here?</p>
<p>@onecent, if a <em>school</em> awards a student a scholarship, the student can no longer change their first choice after that happens and be considered for a different scholarship, even if they aren’t going to the school that offered them the scholarship. Which puts your D in a bind. :-/ I’d call the safe school and double-check whether that March 1 deadline is a hard deadline, or whether your D could still be considered for their award if she names them later.</p>