<p>I'm a national merit semi-finalist and I've been reading my packet of info and I'm confused about one part. I came across the part about only being able to win one scholarship, that is you can't win one offered by a college if you've already been offered the 2500 one-time scholarship given by the corporation. But what if the college's is worth more than 2500, for instance 1000 renewable for 4 years=4000. Does anyone know if they give preference to giving you the one lump sum? Because the way they state it sounds like you might be getting the short end of the stick if you end up winning the 2500 scholarship. </p>
<p>Has anyone been in this situation? If so, what happened? Did they let you take whichever was worth more or what? I think it's just a confusion, but it's weird.</p>
<p>This is how it works in the example given by you. You will get the one time $2500 the first year. The college will then give you $1000 per year for the next three years for a total of $5500.</p>
<p>You do not get both scholarships- one per person limit- I suspect the one time awards are chosen from the pool of students left after the biggest awards are given. Don't worry, even if you are among the nearly half who get no money it is still prestigious to be a finalist.</p>
<p>College may give you additional merit aid for being a finalist. For example, daughter received $2500 from school +10K on top of that. The beauty is that college aid is renewable, while money from NM is not.</p>
<p>It def. helps if you are very interested in a participating school.</p>
<p>If the specific college you are goingto sponsers National Merit Finalist scholarship and you put them as your college of choice, talk to them about what happens if you get offered another one. OU builds it into their package so either way you get the 82500.</p>