National Merit Scholars Inventory

If you don’t mind take a moment to post what was your SAT/ACT/GPA/Rank, where were you accepted, where are you going and if you are receving any merit scholarship. It may help current batch of applicants target schools where its an advantage.

DS only applied to one school, UTD, because that’s where he wants to go and they give a full ride for NM merit. His rank is some where between 3 and 10 out of 647 (he’s hoping for 6), GPA is UW 98.98 and W 113.00, SAT 1590, didn’t take the ACT.

UTD’s NM package is great, it covers full tution for 8 semesters including any hikes in tution and can be used for graduate school credit, $6K semester abroad, $8K yearly cash stipend, and $3K yearly on campus housing stipend.

DDs stats are as follows, 1510 SAT, did not take the ACT. 4.0 GPA, ranked 9th of 428. Going to UCF on the Benquisto scholarship, provides full COA. With the inclusion of OSS in the Benquisto program I imagine there are going to be quite a few NM students migrating to UF/FSU/UCF. #GoKnights

D18’s stats: SAT 1480, ACT 35, UW 4.0 / W 4.2, class rank 13% at large public HS (D18 took 8 AP classes, many other kids took 10+). She’s going to Alabama on their NMF scholarship: https://scholarships.ua.edu/nationalscholars/ . It covers almost everything.

D’s stats: SAT 1460, UW 4.0, W 4.35, school doesn’t rank but top 5%. Accepted at USC, UCSB, UCSD, Washington, Colorado, Colorado State, Arizona, Baylor, and Texas A&M. Attending USC on the 1/2 tuition Presidential Scholarship.

My stats: SAT: 1500, UW: 4.0, W: 4.6, rank was top 3%. I was accepted to UCF, UTD, UNM, UCD, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and CSU Fullerton. I will be attending UCF with the OOS Benacquisto Scholarship covering full COA! (Tuition/fees, room and board, books, travel, personal expenses, and a laptop)

Son’s stats: Sat:1580, ACT:36, rank 1/580 UW4.0. Not sure of weighted as some handle dual credit, honors and AP credit differently.
Major in CS. Accepted to:Illinois, Maryland, Ohio State, Florida, GA, TAMU, Mich St.,UCF. Waitlisted Vanderbilt and NC. Attending UCF on OOS Benacquisto COA scholarship as he felt at home with the Burnett Honors College and the incredible Towers 3 housing. The success last year of the UCF football team didn’t hurt his decision either. LOL. Good Luck to all with your studies.

It could be helpful if you mention your national merit standing as well, semifinalist, finalist or scholar.

DD stats: NM Scholar, 4.0, Top 1% 6/625, 98+ average, 1490/33. Accepted UT (zero $), TAMU (full tuition), SMU ($176k), Baylor ($200k+), WL at Rice. Attending Baylor on Regents Gold Full tuition plus scholarship.

NM Finalist, will be Scholar as soon as first choice processed. 1540 SAT; 35 ACT; 3.9 UW/4.5 W. School does not rank but top 5%. Music performance major. Attending FSU on OOS Benacquisto full COA scholarship. Also an FSU Presidential Scholar. Other admits included USCal (Presidential half-tuition + $10,000 music scholarship) and Miami-Fla (Full tuition Singer Scholarship + $15,000 music scholarship + OOS Benacquisto=full COA).

I wonder what percentage of NM scholars select schools with merit scholarships and what percentage selects non-merit ivy type schools.

You can take a look at the annual report.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/annual_report.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjtjsHuyYbbAhXn24MKHQd7DmAQFjAOegQIBRAB&usg=AOvVaw3ek4D3Ay8tnQZIDWnWRR5k

SAT: 1470 (March 2017), 1550 (August 2017)
No ACT
Weighted GPA (at application time): 5.6
Unweighted GPA: 4.0
Rank 15/192
Florida Resident

Accepted: University of South Florida, University of North Florida, University of Florida, Florida State University.

Received college-sponsored scholarship from FSU ($500)

In Florida, in-state recipients of any NMSC-based scholarship get a free-ride (Benacquisto Scholarship), so I will be attending FSU for free!

DS1 - Business major NMF; 1550 SAT; 35 ACT; 4.0 UW/4.5 Wt Class rank 12/525 (school has weird ranking method), AP 8 subjects, CA resident. Accpeted Notre Dame, UCLA, UC Irvine, ASU (Barrett). Waitlist Michigan (Ross), rejected USC (First choice ;-( ) He will be attending Notre Dame (FA package is really nice).

DS2 - CS major NM Scholar; 1519 SAT; 34 ACT; 4.0 UW/4.5 Wt Class rank 12/525, AP 8 subjects. Accepted ASU (Barrett), UC Irvine. Rejected - UCLA, USC, Harvard, Brown and Northwestern. Attending ASU-Barrett Honors College as Presidential National Merit Scholar (100% tuition). With AP credits, can potentially graduate with an MS in CS in 4 years.

@usma87 private messaged you!

DS stats are 1480 SAT, 35 ACT, 4.0 UW, 4.5W, class rank of 1 out of about 350.

He will be attending Louisville on a competitive full ride scholarship (Brown Fellows) and has guaranteed entrance to Louisville’s med school. He is NM scholar (Louisville college sponsored).

He also applied and was accepted at Alabama, Kentucy (honors), and Centre. No rejections.

My twins are both NMF and Scholars (I think - are you a scholar if you get the $2,500 from NMSC?)

DD - 36 ACT, 1580 SAT, 4.3ish weighted GPA, our school doesn’t report rank unless you ask. Accepted at UChicago, ND, UNC, Rice, Syracuse, OU, Emory, GWU, SLU, Loyola Chicago. Rejected at Yale, Johns Hopkins. Attending UChicago with $10K/yr merit scholarship (not NMF-related) plus a bit of FA .

DS - 36 ACT, 1570 SAT, 4.5ish weighted GPA, rank 7/422. Accepted at ND, Berkeley, UCLA, OU, Ohio State, UNC, MSU, ASU, Rice, Minnesota, Maryland. Rejected at MIT, USC. Attending Ohio State on full COA (not NMF-related).

So, although the possibility of NMF scholarships influenced a few application decisions, both kids ended up taking non-NMF scholarships elsewhere.

@Kathy V Great! You have a dynamic duo. Were they offered merit scholarships from any of their other schools?

1570 SAT, 35 ACT, 4.0 UWGPA, 4.34 WGPA.
2 of 396
Accepted at U of Nevada-Reno, Syracuse, Colorado School of Mines, Boston University, and U of Idaho.
Rejected at Yale, Harvard, MIT, Dartmouth, and Princeton.
Attending the University of Nevada-Reno Honors Program.
Received WUE tuition discount, $16k/year NMF scholarship from UNR, $2500 corporate NM scholarship, and $3500 in outside scholarships. Total first-year COA is $1500.
Not bad for an OOS public.

@CupCakeMuffins Thanks! What is your situation? Are you a parent or student? Senior or Junior?

To answer your question:

DD got $20 - 25K/year non-NMF merit at several schools: GWU, Emory, SLU, Loyola. OU also turns out to be around $25K/year NMF scholarship. She got full tuition Coronat scholarship (not NMF-related) at Syracuse. UNC, Rice, ND - No love, Nada $0.

DS - Got a nice package as OOS at Michigan State - some of it was NMF-related, some not (all together $39K/year in scholarships plus a 2-year paid research assistanceship). Minnesota $15K/year, Maryland $12K/year, both non-NMF. ND, UNC, Rice, Berkeley, UCLA - Bupkus $0.

Both ended up at their 1st or 2nd choice, so we are thrilled. UChicago is still going to be very pricey even with scholarship and FA though :-/. But it is a great school and a very good fit for her (I think).