Hey is was wondering how much National Merit scholarships help for college?
I’m the class of 2018 so I took the SAT my sophomore year (2280) but since you can only qualify for National Merit Junior year (which would be the new sat) I don’t know if I really want to study for the new format just for national merits. Is it really worth it?
It can mean a lot at some schools, not so much for others. It would give you some options at minimum.
@kenichiniijima. It depends on your choices. My son was accepted in a BS/MD program at a school that gives a very generous National Merit Scholarship. He is receiving full tuition (out of state), freshman housing, and some other stipends. I wouldn’t recommend blowing it off. I think it’s very worth it for most people!
It always looks good so that part has value. My daughter was offered several amazing scholarships based upon her NMF status - and chose to go somewhere that didn’t recognize it at all. So financially it’s not helping us.
@1Tcollegemom : Would you mind sharing how you knew which colleges would offer the national merit scholarship. Did your Son first short list his colleges based on his interests and did you call around to those colleges to see if they were offering any scholarships. Thanks
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SAT my sophomore year (2280)
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Your sophomore SAT is fine. Send it to NMCorp 0085 code
You don’t have to take the SAT junior year…only the PSAT
My son is a NMF class of 2016. He applied to quite a few colleges that offered great financial aid for NMFs. He eventually chose a college that did not have the big scholarships for NMF…but for us it was still a great experience. The list of colleges that S16 applied to was partially chosen from a list of great NMF scholarship schools…some of which offer benefits such as automatic admission to honors college, etc. For us, the options that opened up for S16 and what ultimately became his final list of college choices was definitely “flavored” by the NMF scholarship colleges.
Did my son pick something else? Yes. But he did not know until March that his final choice college was going to even be an option. He was perfectly happy with his second and third choice options that had amazing automatic scholarships for NMF. In the end, he loves where he is going, but he would have been really happy at either his second or third place schools as well.
We stumbled upon this list before his senior year…and it definitely shaped (partially) where my son applied to. MANY hidden gems on this list…and most are public universities that most people don’t necessarily think stand out. We visited several that S16 was accepted to (and most had honors colleges)…and we were really impressed. It is not a “one size fits all” and I truly believe that there is a different “fit” for each individual student out there. Best of luck.
Great point about the nmfscholarship list. Our DD16 ultimately decided on a school from the list that was not on her radar at all until late last summer. She is extremely excited for the fall and I’m excited for her excitement AND that the school is paying her to attend instead of me paying for her to attend.
The most important thing is to take a few practice tests in the weeks before the exam, and study the questions you miss carefully. I think many colleges favor NM finalists and scholarship winners even if they don’t offer National Merit Scholarships themselves.
The October SAT is about a week before the PSAT. Even tho the scores aren’t back in time to be useful, it can be a good practice for pacing oneself to getting thru the problems.