Is the National Merit scholarship gauranteed?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
1

<p>USC's website says this:

[quote]

Amount<br>
Half tuition (approximately $18,548)</p>

<p>Number of awards<br>
Varies</p>

<p>Notification date<br>
By April 1, 2009</p>

<p>Selection Criteria
Selected on the basis of PSAT performance. Entering freshmen are considered if they have been designated National Merit Finalists and name USC as their first-choice college with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>"Considered" worries me. My scores are good, but GPA isn't great (to the point that I'm not sure I'll even advance to finalist status). Have any accepted finalists not received the scholarship? </p>

<p>I did the part 1 application a few days ago. If USC accepts me, and I put them as first choice, can I plan on paying half tuition?</p>

<p>Edit: see, I can't even spell "guaranteed", and they might give me a scholarship?</p>

2

<p>This question gets asked often, and so far nobody on CC has reported that a NMF did NOT get the scholarship. But as you know, you still have no guarantee of being accepted by USC, so the suspense will continue!</p>

3

<p>I haven’t ever heard of a NMF NOT getting the scholarship. But remember, just because you are a NMF doesn’t mean you will be accepted. So your GPA will also have to be good enough to get in. But yeah, I do believe as long as you are a NMF and list USC as your top choice, you’re good to go!</p>

4

<p>Just want to add that when I called to ask a couple years ago, USC said the NMF Presidential Scholarship would also definitely be given to students admitted for Spring.</p>