Thanks @NJDad00 !! Really helpful!
@anthonydavis23 – My pleasure! I really learned a lot here last year when I was going through it with my kid, and am happy to give a little back where I can! Good luck!!!
Finally received the letter in the mail yesterday! From MA
IMPORTANT - any student who reported a “first choice” school to NMSC on their application and was not accepted to that school, or changed their mind for any other reason, must change that to another “sponsor college” or must change it to “Undecided” at
before May 1st!
The finalist can subsequently report a firm sponsor college choice that NMSC receives by May 31, 2019
We received Finalist letter for D19 this week! Congrats to all!
Are there colleges that require notification by March 1st? How do you find out? DS applied to 13 colleges…
@SCMomofTwo Probably the best way to find out is go to the financial aid/merit/scholarship websites of each of the 13 colleges. If they award anything specifically for being a NMSF or NMF, they would likely give details about their deadline for naming their school as your S’s first choice. If not, it would be worth a quick call. Congrats to your DS!
We were advised to send a letter highlighting the interest and any accomplishments after submitting the application to the schools along with the copy of the finalist letter to the admissions officer as an update. Also, if the student has decided on any particular program, he or she has to login to the national merit website and mention the selected college as the first choice so that the name of the student will be in the first list that goes out to the college in March. Best wishes!
hi @SCMomofTwo I thought the deadline is May 31 or whenever national merit sends the last list of “first choice colleges.”. If a school is your first choice and they have guaranteed scholarships, it makes to list them as such now. If you are on the fence, perhaps wait because if you put someone as your first choice and they offer you a NMF scholarship, you can’t decline and go for another one if I it correctly.
i thought you can change until May 31
I just called and spoke to NM college coordinator. She said that they send out 5 rosters. We have to call the college and find out if the school prefers the name of the student in any specific roster as some colleges give scholarships only to students in the first roster that goes out in March. You can list a college of the first choice and even if they give the scholarship and you are not interested in going to that college, you can change the first choice option to the one that you want to go to. You have time until May to do this. There is no penalty for changing the first-choice college, You can call NMC and get this clarified also.
@AggieMom68 I think this is not correct (unless I am misreading your comment). Looking at the NM “requirements and instructions… “ document, it specifically states a student cannot be offered more than 1 scholarship offer. it offers guidance that if a finalist who previously reported a sponsor college as first choice but is now uncertain may want to change to “undecided” to prevent being made an offer from the school they are uncertain about. there are other points but it seems clear that if you are offered a national merit sponsored scholarship from a college you list as first choice that there is no do-over if you change your mind. thoughts others?
@PJ2019tx I thought the actual offer from the colleges don’t go out till after the May 1st deadlines. So I was hoping I could switch a couple of times before then. In fact, the top NM option I’m hoping for hasn’t even given me an admission decision yet! So my plan was to put in the best option I have from the places I’ve been accepted into for now and then change later depending on upcoming decisions.
@PJ2019tx : I agree that the wording of NMSC Finalist letter is quite confusing, the letter said that NMSC is started sending the college-sponsored scholarship on May 1 (as mentioned by @DocJake. If you still not sure which college you want to attend (before May 1) you have to choose “undecided”.
@DocJake - FA offers will come out shortly after admission offers. Offers of admission must be accepted by May 1. You will have FA offers in hand before you are required to choose a school. If you truly don’t have a first choice, “undecided” is your best bet. If not, put your first choice down. In my (limited) experience, the school’s that offer big NM money will work with you if you need to change your preference.
@usma87 your point makes sense - but i reread the documents and it’s pretty clear: if you put college A as your first choice and they offer a NM sponsored scholarship, you are not committed to college A but if you decide to go to college B, college B cannot offer you a NM sponsored scholarship. Perhaps college B will “work with you” as you suggest but it seems to be against NM policy so there is risk. I agree 100% with your advice: if you are not positive, it seems wise to stay undecided to maximize your decision making time.
@usma87 - What is FA offer? D19 is still undecided about college A but wants put it as “First Choice”. If she gets accepted (in late March) and doesn’t go there, does she lose a chance to be a NM Scholar…any insight?
@pcazcp FA = financial aid
@Wilmomom - Thank you!
@pcazcp - Your D19 can change her mind. I think some schools do have specific timelines with regard to NMSC $$. For most schools the NM dollars are separate from the “NMSC Scholarship”. There are several threads that attempt to outline the differences. Unfortunately, the best answer is research. The lists on this thread that highlight “fullride” scholarships are from the school, not through NMSC.