<p>I got into the National Merit Scholarship Program, based on PSAT scores. I can "send" the scores to two colleges, but have a couple questions.</p>
<p>1) What does sending the score do? Does it help with admissions? With scholarships? Is it just another contact?</p>
<p>2) Do different colleges use the scores differently?</p>
<p>3) Is it better to send the scores to the Ivies I want to apply to, or to Match schools, or does it not matter? Such as, out of Columbia, Yale, JHU, and NYU, where should I send it?</p>
<p>Just to clarify, I’m a junior, and got commended, not SF/F yet. Does sending these scores have an affect on future scholarships? Can I change my schools later on?</p>
<p>Sending in names at this point means nothing. Doesn’t increase chance for admittance or scholarships…it doesn’t mean anything…and can be changed over and over and over again.</p>
<p>I’m not even sure if the actual “score” gets sent…it may only be your name that you’ve made the first round.</p>
<p>All that is sent is that the Student’s PSAT score is above or equal to the commended cut off and that student is interested in that particular college. The actual score is not sent and there is way the college will know if the student will actually make it to NMF. Hence its value is not very high.</p>
<p>At this junction (last year) we were just learning how this program works. DS found out that his first choice, UC Berkeley, has no interest in NM status. (In fact, non of the UCs do) The full-ride school he will later name as first choice on the National Merit form, so as to have one option of a full-ride, was not yet on his horizon. So he picked two schools he as pretty sure he would apply to that were listed as participants in the program.
Result? He got a nice T-shirt from one of them only a few weeks later.
DS will be going to his first choice, so the national Merit finalist status, while it may or may not have helped his acceptances elsewhere, is not helpful where he’s headed. But I am wearing the nice T-shirt he got from this stage of the competition as a reminder of the wonderful opportunities this program holds!
Do not waste your college-naming on schools that do not participate nor care, such as the ones you have mentioned. (I think of your list,NYU is a participant, but check.) Apply to them, and hopefully you’ll be accepted. But to make the program work for you, send your free-status mentions to schools that are participants, and consider the ones that offer full-rides if this is a factor for your family.</p>
<p>If you’re applying to one of the schools that gives out huge scholarships to nat merit winners then you should probably put that as “First choice”</p>
<p>Rice University waives your application fee if you list them as your first choice. Rice was the only private I was accepted to and the only one I didn’t pay any money for! :)</p>