<p>Oh esobay, I’m glad it’s not just me! The kids had a 4 day weekend due to snow days so I have no idea what day it is. </p>
<p>Thanks for the info…as I stalk the mailbox.</p>
<p>* S got his “you were not qualified to be a finalist” letter on Tues. He thinks it was soph year grades… I think it was sarcastic essay he wrote.*</p>
<p>Last year at my child’s school, they had the first student EVER not to go from NMSF to NMF. The reason…a sarcastic essay. His parents had tried to dissuade him, but he was stubborn. </p>
<p>Now, the principal mandates that the GC read over the essays to make sure that no one submits such an essay again. Parents can only do so much, but schools can put additional pressure on a student. :)</p>
<p>If you look at the thread in the SAT area, some people last year were able to petition successfully to have the decision reversed.</p>
<p>Wow…really…that’s good to know for those who might have been “borderline” and got rejected. :)</p>
<p>I don’t know whether this will be useful or not… Last year, DD initially put U. Chicago as first choice (I think it has a small NM award) hoping that would help inspire the regular merit scholarship committee to send some money her way (it didn’t). She knew she would get a corporate award from hubby’s company if she made finalist–she did. Once she decided to accept Pitt’s scholarship, she changed her first choice. Pitt gives her full tuition and the corporate award is sent directly to her school and the school cuts her a check because it comes in after room and board are paid.</p>
<p>regarding National Merit dates - here is the pdf from the Merit Scholarship site which lists all of the important dates (page through it to get to the calendar dates).</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nationalmerit.org/Ach_R&I_Leaflet.pdf[/url]”>www.nationalmerit.org/Ach_R&I_Leaflet.pdf</a> </p>
<p>It states that on January 22 the principals will be notified of their schools finalists…so I don’t understand how anyone found out that they made it before then-</p>
<p>^^^^</p>
<p>Those who didn’t make it were notified by mail a week or so ago, so…those who didn’t receive a rejection letter know they’ve made it by default.</p>
<p>Also, there seem to be different dates for National Merit Achievemet Fianlists (late Januray) versus National Merit Scholarship finalists (early Febraury)</p>
<p>Finalists - National Achievement
In late January, approximately 1,300 Semifinalists are notified by mail at their home addresses that they qualify as Finalists. High school principals are notified and provided with a certificate to present to each Finalist</p>
<p>Finalists - National Merit
In February, some 15,000 Semifinalists are notified by mail at their home addresses that they have advanced to Finalist standing. High school principals are notified and provided with a certificate to present to each Finalist.</p>
<p>PhDBeenthere: That link is for National Merit Achievement info; not National Merit Finalist info. Here’s the link for that: <a href=“http://www.nationalmerit.org/Merit_R&I_Leaflet.pdf[/url]”>http://www.nationalmerit.org/Merit_R&I_Leaflet.pdf</a> </p>
<p>What those dates don’t show is that students who haven’t made the cut are sent letters around January 9th. At this point, some students know they have not met the criteria (and some are in the process of appealing that decision) but no one knows for sure that they are a National Merit Finalist. </p>
<p>Per the link info:
February 2 NMSC mails notification to high school principals about the status of their Semifinalists; a Certificate of Merit is provided for each Semifinalist who qualifies as Finalist
February 9 NMSC notifies Finalists of their status at their home addresses</p>
<p>Re: NMSC one-time $2,500 scholarship vs. college sponsored Merit scholarship.</p>
<p>I’m also trying to come out of this labyrinth with my sanity intact. Here is my current understanding, and please correct me if I’m wrong!</p>
<p>According to the NMSC student guide, the National Merit’s own one-time, non-renewable $2,500 scholarships - National Merit $2500 Scholarships, come out in late March, but the College-sponsored Merit Scholarships, which often are renewable over four years, come out in late April. Since NMSC will only give out at most one scholarship per NMS, I don’t see how you can still receive the College-sponsored Merit Scholarship in late April if you are selected for the National Merit $2500 Scholarship in late March.</p>
<p>There are some colleges that award merit scholarships based on NMSF/NMF status, but are NOT registered with NMSC as sponsoring colleges, e.g., University of Massachusetts. In this case, I can see a student can receive both the one-time NMSC $2,500 scholarship AND the college’s own NMF/NMSF status based merit scholarship, but I think the college may reduce the first year aid package by the anticipated $2,500 NMSC scholarship.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Is this university registered with NMSC as a sponsoring college? If so, I guess this happened because only the $1,000 scholarship part is the “sponsored” part and the rest is awarded based on his NMF status that has nothing to do with the university’s sponsorship agreement with NMSC.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nationalmerit.org/student_guide.pdf[/url]”>http://www.nationalmerit.org/student_guide.pdf</a></p>
<p>PopChaser: in the case of the example you mentioned, it is University of Alabama which is listed in the National Merit Student Guide Book as being an official College Merit Scholarship sponsor. Looking at their breakdown of the award: the tuition portion is UA’s Presidential Scholarship, which the student qualifies for when they are NMSF or if they are an OOS student with ACT over 32/SAT over 1400. That is not dependent on being NMF, so I think that NMSC ignores that since it’s a separate academic scholarship.</p>
<p>If they make NMF, the housing package is added along with the laptop (which aren’t cash awards), along with the $1,000 per year University National Merit/Achievement Scholarship for 4 years, plus a one time allowance of $2,000 for use in summer research or international study (after completing one year of study at UA). If you get the $2500 NM award, UA allows you to decline the University sponsored $1000 scholarship and accept the $2500 award from NM. Not sure why the $2000 allowance isn’t affected. </p>
<p>I’m pretty sure it’s all in the legal wording as to how this gets handled from school to school. Isn’t it fun ;)?</p>
<p>*Quote:</p>
<h2>Our son was awarded a corporate NM scholarship for $2500 per year, but he also wanted his university scholarship (which is full-tuition, housing, plus $1,000). NMC only lets you choose ONE “official” NM scholarship, but the university will let you forgo the $1,000 (the “official” NM scholarship) and still get the free tuition and housing. </h2>
<p>Is this university registered with NMSC as a sponsoring college? If so, I guess this happened because only the $1,000 scholarship part is the “sponsored” part and the rest is awarded based on his NMF status that has nothing to do with the university’s sponsorship agreement with NMSC.*</p>
<p>Yes…this is the University of Alabama and yes, it’s a sponsoring college. Colleges that award the big NMF scholarships will identify a small part (in this case $1,000 per year) as the “official NMF” scholarship. The other goodies are just a reward the school gives you for being a NMF. NMCorp doesn’t care what colleges offer as “extras” that aren’t affiliated with the competition - per se. NMCorp knows that they can’t control that aspect. All they can control is the “official” part.</p>
<p>In the case of UA’s NMF, since the tuition, housing, laptop, and study abroad money are not official, UA doesn’t have to deal with NMCorp when handing out those goodies.</p>
<p>Since my son was awarded a corporate scholarship of $2500/yr, he declined the $1k per year from Bama, and took all the rest of the Bama goodies.</p>
<p>According to the NMSC student guide, the National Merit’s own one-time, non-renewable $2,500 scholarships - National Merit $2500 Scholarships, come out in late March, but the College-sponsored Merit Scholarships, which often are renewable over four years, come out in late April. Since NMSC will only give out at most one scholarship per NMS, I don’t see how you can still receive the College-sponsored Merit Scholarship in late April if you are selected for the National Merit $2500 Scholarship in late March.</p>
<p>I don’t know how accurate that timing is…that may be when the announcements are, but the “backroom decisions” go on before. LOL </p>
<p>When my son made NMF, I received a phone call from NMCorp (around Feb/Mar) asking which scholarship was my son going to accept. They advised us to take the corporate, so we could still get the majority of Bama’s or another college’s NM scholarship (that son was considering) and still come out $1500 ahead. I know it was either late Feb or early March because it was before my son found out that he was accepted into the CBHP honors program at Bama (which he found out on March 6th)</p>
<p>I think NMCorp tries to identify which kids will get the “other NM scholarships” so that that their very limited scholarships will go to students who don’t have another choice. </p>
<p>I don’t understand anyone “strategizing” to try to get the NMC one instead of a corporate or university one. It makes no difference. Anyone who gets a NM scholarship becomes a National Merit Scholar. Their names are announced.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids, I think the last two posts confirmed my theory. </p>
<p>Re-reading my post and the quoted post, I realized I made a mistake - your son received a corporate sponsored renewable $2,500 scholarship, not the NMSC’s own one-time $2,500 scholarship. But I’m still confused on one thing. The corporate sponsored Merit scholarships come out in early March, even earlier than NMSC’s own one-time scholarships. Why would UA still offer the “sponsored” $1,000 scholarship to your son? I’d assume NMSC would have to approve the $1,000 scholarship before it can be offered. Why didn’t NMSC stop this when they already know about the corporate sponsored scholarship?</p>
<p>EDIT: I cross posted with mom2collegekids last post. So, you learned about the UA $1,000 scholarship option through NMSC, and not from UA directly?</p>
<p>^^</p>
<p>No, we knew about it from UA’s website. It’s clear that the $1k/yr part is the “official” part.</p>
<p>Here’s the info…</p>
<p>National Merit Finalist or National Achievement Finalist</p>
<p>Value of tuition in-state or out-of-state for 4 years </p>
<p>4 years of on-campus housing at regular room rate* </p>
<p>**$1,000 per year University National Merit/Achievement Scholarship for 4 years **</p>
<p>One time allowance of $2,000 for use in summer research or international study (after completing one year of study at UA) </p>
<p>Laptop computer**</p>
<p>*But I’m still confused on one thing. The corporate sponsored Merit scholarships come out in early March, even earlier than NMSC’s own one-time scholarships. </p>
<p>Why would UA still offer the “sponsored” $1,000 scholarship to your son? I’d assume NMSC would have to approve the $1,000 scholarship before it can be offered. Why didn’t NMSC stop this when they already know about the corporate sponsored scholarship?
*</p>
<p>I think you’re confusing when things are “officially offered” and when the “backroom dealings” are going on. LOL</p>
<p>The NMCorp people are very nice and I think they want to make sure as many kids get “something.” So, they look at what each kid qualifies for. They don’t push you into anything. But, if your child is going to be offered a corp scholarship, then you’re not going to get the NMCorp one.</p>
<p>^I should be more precise with my words. I meant to ask were you officially notified of the $1,000 UA scholarship option from NMSC directly? Or did the official news come from UA directly?</p>
<p>From your post, I guess you were told by NMSC directly and that they asked you choose between the two NMSC scholarships. I was just curious why they would even bother to offer the $1,000 UA one when they had already given you the much larger $2,500 corporate one.</p>
<p>why they would even bother to offer the $1,000 UA one when they had already given you the much larger $2,500 corporate one</p>
<p>I’m not being very clear…LOL…they hadn’t “given” the $2500 yet. I know that it’s obvious that my son would take the corporate one, but maybe they think that they still need to hear it from us. </p>
<p>*I should be more precise with my words. I meant to ask were you officially notified of the $1,000 UA scholarship option from NMSC directly? Or did the official news come from UA directly?
*</p>
<p>I don’t remember how we first learned about the $1k. I’m pretty sure it was from the website, but it may have also been from some mailing from UA. I know that we knew “of it” in the fall of senior year.</p>
<p>^Thanks, mom2collegekids! Learned something today!</p>
<p>Need to add…</p>
<p>all this stuff happens in a compressed amount of time. Students become NMF, then the dealings go on. NMCorp tries to find out what the child is going to choose, where they’re going to go to college…hence the phone calls.</p>
<p>They don’t have to do this with every kid. Some kids don’t apply to NM schools. Most kids aren’t eligible for corporate scholarhships. But, with the ones that are eligible, there is this “figuring out” that NMC does by phone calls.</p>
<p>Just want to clarify something for me here too: M2CK your son received a $2,500 corporate NMF scholarship that was a 4 year scholarship (total $10,000) correct? </p>
<p>D won’t have that option (neither my DH or my employer offers that) but if she gets offered the one time $2500 NMF scholarship, she’s better off keeping the UA $1000 scholarship since that’s over 4 years ($4000.) </p>
<p>Am I thinking correctly?</p>