<p>I advanced to finalist standing of the NMSC competition with a 239. However, I received a letter about a month ago informing me that I would not be receiving a National Merit Scholarship of any kind. I know some special corporate or other awards are given out late, but last week I received another letter telling me that, actually, I was being offered one of the 2500 $2500 scholarships, even though letters were sent out in May for those. I was glad, but fairly confused. Was I offered one late because some people turned down the $2500 scholarships in favor of a more lucrative college-sponsored award and NMSC needed to fill in extra spots? That's the only thing I could think of.</p>