@catmomof3 You say “University of Chicago gives every national finalist a scholarship as long as they have not taken a NM corporate scholarship or the National Merit Corporation scholarship.” I’m curious why you believe this. That’s not what’s currently stated on the U of C website. https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/cost-aid/scholarships/merit-scholarships Even if someone at Chicago told someone this, that policy could change at minute, and it would be risky to rely on.
I’m wondering if Chicago is giving National Merit scholarships to anyone who applied ED at this point, since they’ve really been leaning toward not giving merit money to ED students. It might make sense for them to continue to give small NM scholarships in order to increase the number of NM Scholars they have. But the Ivy League schools don’t do this; they just tout the number of National Merit Finalists.
“I think, as well, that the student has no say in which one of the three NM scholarships he/she receives?” I think this is right, but also am not positive and can’t easily find confirming language. I think the language in the rules in previous years was that you could only be “offered” on NM scholarship (and you can’t control what’s offered). So if you get the small 1-time NMC scholarship, you’re out of luck at any school that doesn’t use that money to offset its normal NM scholarship money ( < note I said MONEY, not scholarship, because you can’t get 2 actual named NM scholarships). I believe Northwestern used to be like this. Either you got $2,500 from NMC, or you got $2,000 a year from Northwestern; too bad for you if NMC gave you the most prestigious scholarship: you still lost $6,500. Sounds like this is what Chicago is now doing too (but without a guaranteed NM scholarship from them for all NMF).
@Lea111 National Merit Organization actually has the rule that you can only receive 1 of their scholarships, it has nothing to do with a particular school.
Also, for Chicago as a sponsor college, you have to put them as your first choice school in your NM application by a certain deadline, which I think may be beginning of March but I’m not certain of that date.
“Also, for Chicago as a sponsor college, you have to put them as your first choice school in your NM application by a certain deadline, which I think may be beginning of March but I’m not certain of that date.”
March 1 was the date for my kid two years ago. Plenty of time for an accepted ED/ED2 to be included in the first set of names that go to the colleges. However, that might not keep that student from receiving the one-time $2500 instead. Or even nothing. The whole process is shrouded in mystery.
“However, that might not keep that student from receiving the one-time $2500 instead.”
I can confirm that putting down a college that sponsors NM scholarships will not keep you from getting the $2500 NMC scholarship. The only way to guarantee that you don’t get the $2500 National Merit Corporation scholarship (and thus lose the $2000 a year scholarship from Chicago … or whatever it is that they are giving) is not not to apply for National Merit Finalist in the first place (in which case, you won’t get any National Merit scholarships, so that would be dumb). So I don’t understand this point made above: “Which one would you take!!” You don’t get to pick. Whichever one is offered first - something you can’t control - is the one you’ll take, because you can’t be offered any others.
Well, I guess you could try to write a bad National Merit Finalist application, in order to decrease you chances of getting $2500 NMC scholarship. And remember that colleges see most parts of those applications too, so I suppose writing a bad application could keep you from getting a college-sponsored scholarship as well … since college-sponsored NM scholarship is no longer guaranteed by U of C.
Bad or snarky essays tend not to make it to finalist stage according to those on the NM threads.
What’s potentially confusing is that different sponsor schools apparently have different policies about those college awards. Parents affiliated with at least one other sponsor school insist that the student does indeed have a “choice”. Or at least if they were awarded the one timer and then got into the school RD they apparently are offered the college sponsored award instead. Maybe that’s not a choice so much as it is an automatic upgrade. NMSC is probably thrilled because that frees up their own funds for another worthy candidate.
So while each awardee gets no more than one NM award, individual schools might have distinct arrangements with NMSC when it comes to these sponsored awards and they might switch someone out for some reason or other. Perhaps it’s a matter of the school finding funds to attract the acceptee. Whether UC does this as well might depend more on a RD acceptance than ED.
BTW, apparently UC has named scholarships for need-based awards as well. No clue what the criteria would be - perhaps GPA and/or some other attribute unique to the scholarship - and the amount wouldn’t change from a UC grant if such had originally been offered. It just looks nice on the resume ?
@Lea111@JBStillFlying you have to accept a National Merit Scholarship no matter which one. You actually have to go into your portal and click accept. So if you don’t accept the 2000, then you can wait on the college sponsored one. But you better make sure you have something in writing!!!
@catmomof3 - The prudent action would be to check the NM portal beginning in March and accept if offered the one-time $2500 award. For two reasons: 1) it is quite likely your only NM award; and 2) If a school (UC, USC or other) happens to notify you that you will receive the college-sponsored instead, that’s between them and NMSC to work out. The student can’t “switch out” on their own.
My D received the college-sponsored. However she would have been happy just with the $2500. Any award is good news. She realized that only half of the finalists receive anything. So she checked the portal both in March (can’t remember the date) and in early May (when the college-sponsored awards went live). The plan was to accept the first award that popped up in there.
"If a school (UC, USC or other) happens to notify you that you will receive the college-sponsored instead, that’s between them and NMSC to work out. The student can’t “switch out” on their own. @JBStillFlying
At USC that is not the case.
Accepted NMF students who are notified that they will be receiving the $2500 one time award , AND who have notified NMSF that USC is their first choice, CAN opt out of receiving the one time $2500 , and can then receive the USC NM 1/2 tuition scholarship , plus the $1000 annual award from NMSF
^ @menloparkmom Agree - we discuss upthread how schools might differ on this issue (see posts 26 and 19).
Off topic but I’m curious: What happens if you accept the one-time award before you find out you have gotten into USC? That doesn’t cause any complications, does it? Because posts #27 and #28 were concerning whether to go ahead and accept what’s offered from NM (even if you subsequently get into a school that can switch you like USC) simply because not everyone will be in that situation. Most are offered only one award, and it’s likely that some who are offered the one-timer end up not getting into USC later in the month. My apologies if you’ve explained that elsewhere and I can’t recall the details.
@JBStillFlying it’s my understanding that if you have accepted it you can not change out.
By the way, thanks for your packing list on another thread, packing is underway!
@catmomof3 - That’s consistent with NMSC’s own directions. It’s always best to contact admissions for clarification, especially with all of UChicago’s various response dates (January, early March, and May 1). All of those are going to have NM-accepteds figuring out if and when UChicago is their first choice. Of course, the non-binding admits might be looking at significantly larger funding just via merit scholarship. It’s all good.
We are using that packing list as well! Can’t recall mentioning this before, but we tend to put a lot of the softer stuff in these large Samsonite duffels that we purchase on Amazon. Whether flying or driving, duffels are nice and pliable. Got the tip from a relative who travels SWA with hockey bags: soft luggage allows you to pack more in there and still pass the size requirements (just double check the weight, though with bedding, towels and clothing you are going to be fine). The Samsonite duffels come in various colors so everyone has their “own” or has chosen something that’s easy to spot at baggage claim.
Also, anyone encountering IL toll roads: just use the fast pass lanes, record your time and toll stop #, and pay online within a week. Do NOT stop in the cash lane. Waste of time.
I realize there hasn’t been any discussion on this thread for a bit but I am adding a comment here rather than starting a new one in case any one can help decipher a message! We just found out that our daughter qualified as a NMSF this year and plans to apply to UChicago EA1 or ED1 for the 2020 school year. Deciding which option to recommend she choose, especially when financial aid is a factor, is very hard. I decided to reach out to UChicago Financial Aid to see if they could provide additional details about how scholarships for NMF work. I received this response:
"Student who qualify for NMF will receive either the NMS $2500 single payment award or a renewable Corporate/College-sponsored award. The Corporate and College sponsored awards can either be one-time or renewable for 4 years. https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/interior.aspx?sid=1758&gid=2&pgid=424
NMS recipients will be notified of their awards at the same time despite their admissions status. The NMS scholarship does not displace any need-based aid a student is eligible for. Outside/Third Party scholarships will reduce the institutional need-based aid a student is eligible for. Here is a link to our Financial Aid website: https://financialaid.uchicago.edu/undergraduate
Please take some time to review the information there, and direct any questions concerning early action and early decision enrollment to the Office of Admissions."
So they are not disclosing what amount they would give, or if it is renewable, but it seems like they are saying all finalists will receive something from one of the three sources, right? Some of the comments I read on this thread have made me wonder if applying EA1 may be more prudent to leverage merit aid? But I also want her to have the best chance possible for acceptance. She fits the profile well enough but the acceptance rate has been so low.
@CrazyCatMama (love your handle!) That sounds about right. My DD (UChicago class of 2022) was NMF, applied EA, and received the one time $2,500 NMSC award, and therefore could not receive the $2,000 Corporate/College sponosored renewable award, which was a little disappointing. Before the $$ were awarded, I called and talked to 2 different people who both told me that NMF awards are out of their hands. In other words NMF decides who gets what.
I agree that applying EA will be better for having a chance of getting University (non NMF) merit scholarships. My D ended up getting $10K/year from UChicago in addition to the NMF $$. But it is also true that ED acceptance rates are higher than EA, so it would appear to be a bit of a tradeoff. However, I think you can switch to EDII if you are deferred EA.
@browniesundae Thank you for this information! Curious, did your daughter indicate UChicago was her first choice on her NMF application? I assume that is what we should do? And did she find out about the NMSC award/UChicago award when she received her admissions decision or did you have to wait until spring?
@CrazyCatMama - have you run the NPC for UChicago? If you find that your FA is pretty good, you may wish to encourage your daughter to apply ED (either ED1 or ED2). For those with a first preference for UChicago, it’s just easier to get in via ED than non-binding. A lot depends on your financial situation or whether your D has a strong preference for other schools as well as UChicago. All are legitimate reasons for going EA.
@CrazyCatMama Yes, DD indicated UChicago as first choice for NMF. She found out about UChicago need based financial aid around the same time as her admission decision - mid December.
She got her UChicago merit scholarship on Feb 5, but I was told by someone at the admissions office that the “scholarship committee” meets weekly. Here is her story for that award: My D emailed her AO in early January, letting him know that she was honored to be accepted, that UChicago was definitely her first choice, and that her family was trying to find a way to make it work out financially as she had a twin brother also headed to college (all true, of course). She asked if there was anything she could do to be considered for a merit scholarship. She reminded him that she was anticipating being named an NMF and that she had been accepted to the all-state honors orchestra since she had first applied (hardly earthshattering additions to her resume - but at least she had something to say).
In response to her email, her AO said he would “resubmit her file” to the scholarship committee. Our high school counselor had told the kids to let their top choice school know that they were number one. Both kids did that (not both UChi though) and both later received merit scholarships. Don’t know for sure, but I think indicating that the only thing keeping her from accepting was the cost may have helped put her over the top for an award. And believe me, they must know what they are doing because they literally got the cost right down to our max.
As for NMF award timing, I can’t remember - she didn’t have official NMF status until late Feb, so it had to be after that - I’m guessing mid to late March?
Best of luck! UChicago has been great for our D and she loves it! Keep us posted.
My D (class of '21) was also NMF and received the college-sponsored award around May 1. The $2500 one-time awards come out before that - March sounds about right.
@browniesundae and @JBStillFlying thank you for sharing this information! It is such a confusing process. We did run the financial aid calculator and UChicago was better or equal to the other colleges on our daughter’s list. It is just hard to predict what the actual outcome will be. If the amount is significantly less, what do you do if you’ve applied ED? I’m getting off topic from merit awards now. I just wish there was more transparency to the whole process. Thanks again- will keep you posted!
