<p>Here is the link for the "college choice card" : </p>
<p><a href="http://www.nationalmerit.org/Col_Ch_Mer.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.nationalmerit.org/Col_Ch_Mer.pdf</a></p>
<p>You can input your data, print, then fax the update to NMSC.</p>
<p>My D received info from her GC today that she's under consideration for a "Special Scholarship" from my h's corporation, administered through the NMSC. It appears from what I can tell that she'll have to fill out all the same paperwork/essay that NM semi-finalists had to do in Sept. She made commended, and apparently, from teh way I read things, there aren't enough semi-finalists this year for the awards h's corportation gives out. (May I take a moment and say, "hallelujiah" to that good fortune <g>). Anyway, it appears that she's eligible for $2,000/4 years. In folks' experience, is this similar to NM finalist in that if you've made it this far, and your grades stay excellent, and your standardized test scores are high that chances are you'll get the scholarship? </g></p>
<p>Question 2: How does one go about choosing first choice school? Is there a danger in choosing one school over the other, i.e. is there any way these schools find out this info. Parnoid because she's up for semi-finalist of a prestigous scholarship at one school she's been admitted to ... and she won't hear about admittance from the second school she's interest in until Feb. I'd hate for her to mess up admittance at the one school or scholarship consideration at the other based upon which school she places as first. Does that make sense???</p>
<p>Okay, thanks!!</p>
<p>zebes</p>
<p>Anyone I have talked to, yes, getting the application means you just have to follow directions and return it to get the scholarship. My D got one last year (and she wasn't even commended). I don't think it matters what you put down for a first choice (you can say undecided), our D was not even accepted to the one she listed as her first choice, so once she put down a deposit somewhere, we sent in the school change card.</p>
<p>DD2 and classmate received applications for corporate sponsored scholarships last year (2 different corporations). Neither were awarded a scholarship.</p>
<p>Ooh, were these corporations that their parents worked for? I have not seen that around here.</p>
<p>In DD2's case her parent, for the other it was a grandparent. In both cases, neither had been recognized as commended (PSAT scores in 185 to 195 range). I do know know in DD's case the company offered 2 scholarships but I don't know how many students were asked to submit the application. So I guess what I am saying is that it would not always be correct to assume that there is a special scholarship waiting for each student that is given an application (unless the corporation is offering an unlimited number?).</p>
<p>Appreciate the anecdotal info. I had forgotten we'd filled out a corporate scholarship application for my h's company since we had to do it before D even received her PSAT scores. When she got commended, I hadn't given the corporate scholarship further thought. So, it was a lovely surprise when she brought all the paperwork and deadlines home yesterday from school. We think she has a decent shot as the company does give a lot of scholarships, and her PSAT scores were the "off" day, so to speak. Everything else about her gpa, standardized test scores, ec's, etc. are quite excellent. I won't be stressing over it, other than to make sure she's turned things in on time, LOL, but it's kind of like finding money in a pants pocket you'd forgotten about; every bit helps, that's for sure. Thanks all. </p>
<p>zebes, still trying to figure out if she should say "undecided" on first choice school or list one of the schools. Don't see how it makes a difference as she's not getting the scholarship through the school.</p>
<p>I was personally quite surprised when my counselor contacted me a few days ago about this scholarship. Apparently, in the same case as zebes, the company didn't have enough semifinalists for fullfill its set number. YAY!!!! I finished all the forms and turned it in to my counselor. Now, for the long wait until March. </p>
<p>Zebes, saying undecided or naming a college shouldn't really matter. If things do happen, you can always fax them the card with your 2nd choice. That's what I'm planning to do with mine. Best of luck!</p>