When di your child receive the notification letter from their high school about being eligible to continue to compete for a corporate scholarship administered through the National Merit Corporation? D received her letter yesterday from the GC, but the posted application deadline was DECEMBER 15, 2016–or almost a month ago!!! Needless to say, we were quite upset.
Since DS only received his notification letter from guidance that he was a NMSF ONE DAY before the application was due and we have had a heck of time getting transcripts etc. in a timely manner from guidance, my first instinct is to blame our high school. However, the NMC letter is dated “Winter 2016-17,” which is oddly vague and could indicate the NMC itself was delayed in the release–kinda of like College Board has been lol. Also, we called the NMC and thankfully they agreed to still accept her app, provided it is submitted immediately. Phew! So D completed her part in a big rush last night, but the school has to do their portion. Fingers crossed.
So before I go ballistic on how the high school’s negligence could cost my child thousands of dollars, I wanted to make sure it was indeed the school’s issue.
We had the exact same issue about 5 years ago - received a notice in January from NMSC that son had missed the deadline to apply, because school guidance counselor had not notified him. They did extend the deadline and he got the corporate scholarship, but I was really ticked off when I read the letter. I think winter break may play a part in the delay.
Interesting. Thanks for the input. Did your S get any input from the GC as to the reason? D’s GC was busy with other kids and even though D waited around, the lady had no time to talk with her.
This doesn’t sound right to me. My daughter was informed in plenty of time to fill out the NMF application. I think your guidance office doesn’t get through their mail quickly enough. If this is the case, someone needs to make it clear that this is a priority because scholarships depend on this.
In our case son was not NMF, but H’s company awards a set amount of scholarships to employees’ kids - usually all the NMF’s then at least some of the commended, not sure what the deciding factors are for those. I have a very strong memory of this occurring in January because I had just arrived home from the hospital after surgery to find this letter that the deadline was missed, but it may be a typical problem. Guidance counselor was apologetic and fixed it quickly, probably had just been overlooked with the winter break.
Another update: A day after I first posted, D received a communication from NMSC by snail mail. She was copied on a letter directed to her high school principal, that begins like this: Dear Principal, In late November we mailed you notification that the student named above is a candidate for a Special Scholarship sponsored by X Corporation…" It goes on to say that neither student’s application nor school portion was ever received and wanted to know what had happened. They requested that the school contact NMSC immediately.