National Achievement Scholarship Program

<p>I haven't received word about any national achievement scholarships. Does that mean that I haven't won any? :(</p>

<p>^^^ No, I don't think everyone has been notified as of yet. However, if you really want to know now, it may not hurt to give them a call.</p>

<p>everyone who has made it has been notified, and it will be made public april 1st
the contract was due last week, and you would have been called if you made it
i was called to check up on my college choice weeks b4 i got the notice</p>

<p>They have notified the finalist but the process for the money is ongoing. I called yesterday</p>

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<p>Contract? What contract? Did we overlook something?!</p>

<p>Thank GOODNESS for CC! Just called. A response WAS due last week. We totally overlooked it! Good thing we called. Turns out it's not too late to fax it in and they noted a "telephone response." Phew!</p>

<p>Is thread for National Merit Finalists? My son received his notification that he was a National Merit Finalist in February. However, it was just a letter I didn't see anything about a contract. Could someone enlighten me. Thanks.</p>

<p>They're related! The National Merit Scholarship Corporation sponsors two competitions. One for everyone (National Merit), and a lesser known one for African-American students called the National Achievement Scholarship. The programs are very similar, and both award finalist status to the top 1% (or so) of their respective populations. African-American students who qualify in both competitions can accept scholar status in only one.</p>

<p>Up to now, the competitions have paralleled each other in everything except a few deadline dates, so I'm guessing that National Merit Scholars will need to return something accepting their scholarships when notified as well! :)</p>

<p>My D (Md resident) scored in the 97th percentile nationally on October 2007 PSAT. Now, based on this thread and the NM thread, it doesn't seem that a NM scholarship will be in the works. It also looks like we won't know a thing until the end of the summer. I'm hoping for NA recognition and that it translates in to her being eligible for merit aid. I've learned the hard way (one child in college) that the EFC calculated for FAFSA purposes is brutal to relatively high earners residing in high cost areas of the country. </p>

<p>My question - now that the class of 2008 has received acceptances and notification of their NA award status, it would be great if they could post which schools have offered substantial merit-based aid on the basis of their National Achievement recognitition. We're looking for all the help we can get.</p>

<p>Congrats on your D's results. Don't count yourself out before it's all said and done. Rumor has it that the class of 2008 was the largest and most overachieving in history. That could mean that PSAT scores required for NM/NA nods will be slightly lower this year.</p>

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<p>You can say THAT again! We're in MD too, and our EFC made me laugh till we cried. We were completely ineligible for FA at UMCP -- but you can bet we needed the merit $$! </p>

<p>Once upon a time I posted a link to schools that offered merit $$ for NA Semifinalist, Finalist, and Scholar status. See posts # 42 and 43 here: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/387154-national-achievement-scholarship-program-3.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/387154-national-achievement-scholarship-program-3.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>No guarantee those schools are still the same programs for 2009, but it's a starting point! :)</p>

<p>In our case, I had to do a LOT of digging last year, because so many schools forecasted to offer generous merit to NA/NM/NH scholars last year, turned out to ONLY offer that aid to NM scholars for 2007 -08 (thank YOU, Ward Connerly!)</p>

<p>What I found was that (of course), the best schools offered the least merit. But there were a few in the top 100 that still offered significant incentives. Based on my D's bias toward mid-sized, co-ed schools, anywhere but south -- see my post and others at <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/392653-class-2012-master-list-scholarship-awards-10.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/392653-class-2012-master-list-scholarship-awards-10.html&lt;/a>, post #136</p>

<p>Welcome to CC!</p>

<p>Thanks so much for the reply and for the references to the other posts. I'll follow up and keep my hopes up. I think this also points to the need for my D to apply to several schools, including UMCP.</p>

<p>^ i know Westmont offers merit aid.</p>

<p>What are the general cutoff score range for semifinalist?</p>

<p>I think that it varies on the state/region, but my guess would be 185 - 190.</p>

<p>Oh sweet. I have been kinda fretting that it was 199-202 range, similar to National Merit, and have been googling for an answer (with no luck though). Thanks!</p>

<p>ok guys curious here if you are a national achievement finalist...are you basically guaranteed admission to the ivies?</p>

<p>No, you are not guaranteed admission to any ivy league school. </p>

<p>National Achievement finalist status can, however, give you some great scholarships at some state schools. If I recall correctly the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, Louisiana State University and others offered some really good scholarships to finalists.</p>

<p>Ahmed, I'm not an expert, but it appeared to me during my daughter's hunt last year, that GPA/QPA was equally important as finalist status at increasing chances of ivy admission. Being a finalist helps, but since a majority of finalists also apply to the ivies, the designation may not have the cachet there one might wish. You may have less competition/better luck at a top liberal arts school. And don't forget - ivies don't give merit aid (if that matters to you).</p>

<p>merit aid does matter but few colleges of high prestige offer them...
...at least that is my opinion</p>

<p>"Ahmed, I'm not an expert, but it appeared to me during my daughter's hunt last year, that GPA/QPA was equally important as finalist status at increasing chances of ivy admission "</p>

<p>Not to mention actual SAT's.... my D's SAT's where way better than her "commended" PSAT's, but still didn't fit comfortably with the midrange of SATs going to Ivy's.</p>