National Merit Scholarship Finalist Notification

Parents Forum
41

<p>^^^</p>

<p>yes…it’s a $2500 per year ($10k total) corporate scholarship. My H’s company gave it to 100 NMF (children of employees). We were so happy when older son got it. (Later, we lucked out because younger son missed the NMSF cutoff, but my H’s company gave him the scholarship, too. They give some scholarships to kids with high stats who missed NM.)</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>Exactly…$4k is better than $2.5k :)</p>

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<p>How does your son like UA? My h and s visited on Capstone Day and were quite
impressed with the campus, staff and students. My s is also waiting to see if he
is NMF and is definitely considering UA. We live in Phila. and I was wondering if your son
was out of state?. If so is it a difficult transition?</p>

43

<p>Momma5: slightly off topic, but we relo’d from NJ to TN a few years ago. D is hopefully a NMF and is planning on attending UA next year. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about the transition from the NE area to the South. We’ve found it to be delightful!</p>

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<p>momma5…</p>

<p>Hi, </p>

<p>We’re Southern Calif natives that were transferred to Alabama. </p>

<p>It is not difficult at all for “non-southerners” at Bama. Many kids are from OOS, but also know this about many in-state kids… Many kids (like my kids) are “in-state,” but they’re not southerners, either. The state is home to the second largest research park in the nation, Cummings Research Park (google it :slight_smile: ). There are thousands and thousands of transplants here working for the numerous Fortune 500 companies and Fortune 1000 industries… and many send their kids to Bama. </p>

<p>So, a child might be in-state, but his roots (or his parents’ roots) might be from elsewhere. So, Bama is not a “deep south” school at all. It is rather moderate in politics - as far as colleges go. </p>

<p>I know that I had some hesitations about some things…mostly based on unfounded biases. I was concerned that my Catholic kids would be considered odd, I was even concerned to have my child put down the name of his Catholic high school on his Honors application. But, my worries were unfounded. There is a Catholic church across the street from the campus. The dean of the honors college (at the time) was Catholic & a BC grad. The current dean attended a Catholic college, and the Ass’t Provost gave a funny talk at Orientation about her growing years in Catholic schools. </p>

<p>Of course , there are other houses of worship - Christian and non-Christian - near the school, too. There is a Hillel for Jewish kids (and a temple is being built). That said, a student need not belong to any faith at all. </p>

<p>So, to answer your question…it’s not a culture shock or difficult transition to go to Bama. Sure, there are some things unique, as there are some things unique wherever you go in the US. But, nothing that will leave you speechless or uncomfortable. </p>

<p>The students are very friendly, and the profs are very student-oriented.</p>

<p>The school is very nice, very beautiful, and has lovely facilities.</p>

<p>:)</p>

45

<p>momma5…</p>

<p>I should add…It’s safe to guess that your son has made NMF. The rejection letters were sent out 3 weeks ago. I think the last person to report getting one on CC was Jan 11 or 12. </p>

<p>So, I say…Congrats to your son!!! :)</p>

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<p><a href=“http://www.nationalmerit.org/Merit_R&I_Leaflet.pdf[/url]”>http://www.nationalmerit.org/Merit_R&I_Leaflet.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>for the finalists notification dates pls follow the link</p>

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<p><a href=“http://www.nationalmerit.org/Merit_R&I_Leaflet.pdf[/url]”>http://www.nationalmerit.org/Merit_R&I_Leaflet.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>by Feb2 schools will be notified</p>

48

<p>Does anyone know if the schools are asked to not tell the students who are finalists until February 9th or is it up to the schools to decide when to tell them? I remember that when semifinalist notifications went out schools were instructed to not reveal the names until a certain date had passed.</p>

49

<p>^^^</p>

<p>Some schools ignore those embargoed dates. My son’s school told him that he made NMSF in August.</p>

<p>Proud_mom…since the rejection letters went out 3 weeks ago, if your child didn’t receive one, he/she likely made NMF.</p>

50

<p>Thank you mom2collegekids. Even though I have absolutely no reason to doubt that my daughter did not make finalist (perfect grades, high SAT score, lots of EC’s including meaningful volunteer work, thoughtful essay, application supervised by a GC with 20+ years of experience with the NMF process) I am still anxious for the official word as my daughter is accepting a NMF full-ride and that equates to a lot of money. Typical mom nerves.</p>

51

<p>^^^</p>

<p>I understand. I know it’s nerve-racking! :slight_smile: My son also accepted a full-ride. :slight_smile: </p>

<p>Well, how well do you know the GC at your child’s school? Could your D or you ask the GC on Monday if they rec’d a notification that she had been rejected? It seems that if she asked THAT question, she’d more likely get told the truth.</p>

<p>The above says that the “schools will be notified Feb 2,” but that sounds fishy since the schools rec’d copies of the rejections. By default, the schools know who made finalist. I know that they need to receive the certs that get sent to the school, but they almost certainly know who’s made it by now.</p>

52

<p>I am sure I could find out because I teach at the school, but I don’t want to put a fellow employee in an awkward situation, so I will wait until admin is allowed to tell me. Now, admin did nominate my daughter a few weeks ago for a Rotary recognition and when they gave her a “about me” form to fill out to give to the club they specifically told her to include that she is a NMSF, so I think they are confident she will be a NMF, because I don’t think they would have selected her if she didn’t make it to the Finalist stage.</p>

53

<p>Thanks for the information. This will make our decision easier to make. We too are Catholic but my h and s saw the Catholic Church on campus. One thing that really
impressed both of them was how very friendly everyone was. My son in particular had
some reservations before his visit but he really liked BAMA and at this point it is on his short list. They visited Tulane on the same trip and although my son thought he wanted to be in urban setting he like BAMA better than Tulane. With the wonderful deal BAMA
gives to NMF it is hard to pass up. </p>

<p>I thought he should have heard if he didn’t make finalist, but I am axious to recieve the letter to confirm that he is definitely a NMF.</p>

54

<p>Thanks and congrats to your daughter!! Hopefully their schools will notify them next
week so that we can all breath a sigh of relief that they’ve officially made it. I will post
as soon as I hear. Is your daughter definitely going to UA or is she considering other
schools?</p>

55

<p>Momma5: there are 4 other schools on the list, two of which she knows she’s accepted to and two that she’s still waiting to hear from. However, since we’ve sent in the UA Freshman deposit & housing deposit & she’s picked her dorm and enthralled with her major advisor, I can’t imagine what would have to happen between now and May 1st to make her change her mind about UA. Plus she’s got all those UA tees, sweatshirts and a herringbone scarf :)</p>

<p>We were at CSD day too; which college did your S visit?</p>

<p>Interesting tidbit about Tulane vs. UA. Tulane was on the last to final application list and got cut right before she hit the send button. I would have liked it if she had visited as it seemed like a good fit on paper.</p>

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<p>Momma5…</p>

<p>What did your son list as his major? What is his likely career?</p>

<p>And…oh yes…the merit is awesome.</p>

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<p>Not to be too picky, but the above link does not exactly say that schools will be notified on February 2, 2010, it says: “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.” I think it could be any time between February 3-8, depending on how fast USPS delivers the packets.</p>

58

<p>True…</p>

<p>But, think about this…</p>

<p>If tomorrow your child asks his GC…</p>

<p>Did National Merit Corporation send a letter rejecting me as a finalist? </p>

<p>If the GC didn’t get a rejection letter 3 weeks ago, she’ll say “no,” and your child will know by default that he/she made it.</p>

59

<p>mom2,</p>

<p>You may be correct, however, in our case, it’s hard to know. We have a new director of college counseling and she may not be comfortable saying one way or the other. DS would rather wait it out than risk being told “I can’t tell you” or “sorry, you were rejected”. I, on the other hand, want to know this minute. </p>

<p>I am guessing we won’t know anything until at least Wednesday at the very earliest.</p>

60

<p>So it’s 2/6/10 now… has anyone gotten any finalist notification yet? Thanks!</p>