<p>Hi, I was wondering what would be smarter to put for the first choice college when filling out the national merit form. I am a semifinalist with a PSAT of 233 in California. My first choice college is Stanford or UC Berkeley for Electrical Engineering, but these schools don't give merit aid, so would it be better to put the first choice as my actual first choice (probably Stanford) or a college that gives good merit aid for NMF? If not my real first choice, I'm thinking about USC. </p>
<p>Can I get your thoughts on this? Thanks!</p>
<p>You should absolutely put USC as your first choice, especially since Stanford does not give NMF scholarships. If you arent among the lucky 7% who are accepted at Stanford, USC, with its 1/2 tuition scholarship for NMF’s , and 150 full tuition Trustee and Mork scholarships [ given to exceptional applicants who finish their application before Dec 1 AND who show a strong interest in going to USC] is nothing to sneeze at.</p>
<p>Yes, put USC as your First Choice, but do you need to do that yet? What is the deadline to name USC as first choice?</p>
<p>Technically, he does not need to put USC as his first choice until next May, but strategically, if he is a very strong student AND he is trying to signal to USC that he would be strongly interested in going there , he has nothing to lose by putting them as his first choice now.</p>
<p>Colleges do not get notification of first choice selections until next March at the earliest.</p>
<p>^True, but as USC has a much higher rate of acceptance of NMF’s than non NMF’s[ this information comes from the Dean of Admissions] , he would be wise to have USC listed as his first choice in March, when final admission decisions are made, and to let them know that in his application.</p>