<p>Does it really matter what major and career choice my kid selects on the NMS forms?
Is there strategy to this process? Does it look better to the colleges she chose if she selects Biomedical Engineer over Journalism?</p>
<p>New to the process.
Thanks!</p>
<p>^Assuming your child is a current junior and the forms you’re referring to are the “interest notification” forms for the top 50,000 (i.e. at least Commended) students, the general opinion is that there’s usually no real “gain” in which schools you name. Generally, there might be an increase in mail from the particular school, but it probably won’t affect any potential scholarship offer down the line.</p>
<p>There is some strategy involved in which school your child names as a first-choice school should she become a NMSF/NMF next school year. There are several threads in this forum that you can read through regarding listing a school/listing undecided/when to change, etc. but a lot of it depends on what types of schools your D is interested in and whether or not they offer “official” and “unofficial” NM scholarships. In any case, there are a lot of folks her on CC that will be very helpful in getting you through the process. Good Luck to your D!!</p>
<p>Great info! Thank so much. This helps a lot.</p>
<p>I found this useful:</p>
<p>[Carleton</a> College: Admissions: Tips for National Merit Scholars](<a href=“http://apps.carleton.edu/admissions/afford/national_merit_tips/]Carleton”>http://apps.carleton.edu/admissions/afford/national_merit_tips/)</p>