National Merit Scholarship letter

Colleges and Universities A-Z Naval Academy - Annapolis
1

<p>My son ( a junior) scored a 211 on the PSAT and recently received a letter from NMSC asking that he name 2 colleges to be referred to. His top 2 choices are USNA and USMA, but I wonder whether it would be smarter to name colleges that might offer merit aid if the military option doesn't pan out. Does anyone know anything about this?</p>

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<p>There's a great thread on the Parents Forum which addresses this issue in general. Personally, I'd see no value in naming USNA and USMA here, except that it demonstrates interest (and there are many other credible ways to do that for these two institutions).</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=54074&highlight=national+merit%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=54074&highlight=national+merit&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>Thanks Kate. That was very helpful.</p>

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<p>There is no value in naming the academies. [You can indicate his finalist status on his resume/application to the acadamy.] The acadamies do not participate in the program and the potential scholarship money -- not very much in any event -- will not be paid by/to acadamies.
My son is a national merit finalist/award recipient. He named a civilian college but is going to USNA.</p>