<p>We find this National Merit Scholarship process very confusing and anxiety producing. D was named a finalist and father is a self employed professional so she won’t be eligible for any corporate awards. </p>
<p>D has applied to four schools, accepted to 3 so far. Two have offered full rides (large state U and a small private school known for offering NMF full rides) and private Catholic college that does not participate. Last school she is waiting for a decision from participates, but we hear they only award @ $2,000 a year. Daughter had planned to wait to see about 4th school and then make a decision from there as to where she was going and subsequently, who to list as her first choice school. We have asked D if she was admitted to the 4th school and had all four to choose from, did she know which way she was leaning? She says no. We had plans to revisit small private and nonparticipating Catholic school next month. </p>
<p>But…small private school threw a wrench in the plan by sending an e-mail yesterday that said they only offer a certain # of free rides and that THREE TIMES THAT NUMBER had applied for admission. The e-mail went on to state that if you wanted to make sure that you would be one of the students who were offered the free ride, you should notify NMSC by March 1 (first NMSC deadline date) that they were your first choice. So…</p>
<li> Does D sucumb to the pressure from small private school and list them as first choice (worth $120,000)?</li>
<li> If accepted to school #4 and she decides to go there, you would hate to throw away $8,000.</li>
<li> If in the end she decides on State U, they might still offer her something based on test scores, but will not offer her the full ride ($40,000).</li>
</ol>
<p>The information from NMSC says the way the “game” works is that if you list a school as your first choice and that school offers you a scholarship, and if you then change your school choice, new choice cannot offer you their NMF scholarship, even if they are a participating school. We finally came down to the idea that the greatest loss would be losing the scholarship from the small private school and that she should send in the darn yellow card to NMSC listing them as first choice.
Would you all agree with that logic?</p>
<p>I'm confused and anxious too, but about a potential corporate scholarship. I wish I knew what to do or what to tell you. My son wanted to avoid ranking his schools this early. Now it sounds like he'll have to, or forgo the scholarship (he's been accepted to 2 schools so far, one of which participates in the program, but is probably not going to be his first choice). Five of his other 8 also participate, but some more enthusiastically than others. I flat out do not know what to advise my son, much less you. But I sympathize. It's for sure not the worst problem in the world, but very perplexing.</p>
<p>there have been threads in the past about this strategy that schools use to pressure you to make an early decision and list them now as #1.I do remember that they legally cannot put the pressure of this artificial date on you..does anyone remember the logistics? or can anyone help guide this years crop of confused parents to the old info?</p>
<p>hmmm...something smells fishy about this. I didn't think schools were considered as 'participating' in the program unless they offered their scholarship to ALL NMF who applied and indicated that school as first choice. I may be wrong about this, or the rules may have changed since my d was a NMF; but I would call NMSC and find out if that school is a true participant and tell them about the email.</p>
<p>Also, the college-sponsored awards are mailed from NMSC, not the colleges, and the first offers are mailed on April 25, 2007. You have until the day before to fax them a change of first choice designation. So, you could, technically, list the private as your first choice to satisfy their requirement that they appear on the March 1 list...and then change the designation anytime before April 25th. That gives you a little more time to receive information about all her college choices before locking in.</p>
<p>In my d's case, we had one college with the artificial deadline. She designated that college as her first choice just to make the March 1 list. A few weeks before the April mailing deadline for the first batch of scholarships, she then changed her designation back to undecided while we visited colleges. She ended up not wanting the college with the artificial deadline; but if she had, she would have changed her designation back to that school before the April mailing deadline for the first batch of scholarships.</p>
<p>It's confusing and frustrating...I know....</p>
<p>"We find this National Merit Scholarship process very confusing and anxiety producing. D was named a finalist and father is a self employed professional so she won't be eligible for any corporate awards."</p>
<p>I have seen this stated before and it confuses me. My son received a National Merit Scholarship from a corporation we are in no way connected to. It seems to have been related to his choice of possible majors and potentially to his college choice.</p>
<p>Thanks all! This is what I love about CC - informed, intelligent people who have gone through or are going through what you are experiencing. I will call NMSC - that had crossed my mind before.</p>
<p>Haven't called NMSC yet, but small private school threw us another curve. Person responsible for recruitment of NMF called Friday night saying they were calling the "top NMFs that they really want to have the full ride"???? We explained that D had not heard from all the schools she had applied to and that left us in a quandary. Their recommendation was to list their school as the top choice, and they really hope D attends. But should D change her mind, she has until NMSC sends out letters to the schools on April 25th to change her first choice school. I did some more reading on NMSC site and this seems right. If I read it right, most of the first choice selections are in to NMSC by March 1 and then sent out in mass to the schools on April 25. After that date they send them sort of hit and miss as they come in. If you change your first choice school AFTER those letters have been sent, too bad. You cannot receive another scholarship offer from another participating school. So many rules! I'm still calling NMSC next week.</p>
<p>MidWestParent,
National Merit only has control over the $1000- $2000 scholarships. I don't think they have any say re: any other additional $$ [ full ride. full tuition, etc.] that some colleges offer to entice top students.</p>
<p>You have it right Midwest parent. There are five lists sent out from NMSC to the colleges. The first one is the big one and it is of all who designated on or before March 1. Colleges only receive their lists and see no one else's. After March 1, lists with names of students designating after March 1 are sent from NMSC to the colleges every couple of weeks. The actually final deadline to designate is May 31. But if you wait that late, you run the risk of receiving an offer you don't want when the first letters are mailed on April 25...unless you remain undecided until May 31.</p>
<p>It should be perfectly fine to designated the early college now and change it before April 25th should you need to. We did this...and we had the last day to change marked boldly in RED on all of our calendars! lol!</p>
<p>Some colleges just have a thing about being on that first list. University of Florida was like that last year. They guaranteed 'near fulls' to all from oos who designated by March 1. In fact, my d was sent a letter guaranteeing acceptance, honors plus the near full...and she had not even applied there. I think they just wanted to know who was truly interested so they could focus their schmoozing efforts. Other schools are not nearly as aggressive. UT-Austin, for example, only cared that the designation was made by May 31. They guarantee NMF $ to all who applied, were accepted and chose to attend. Of course, they weren't offering full rides either.</p>
<p>I am still confused, even though I've read this thread (and others), and even though my daughter received a national merit scholarship three years ago! My son, a finalist, is most likely to attend a school that is not a NM sponsor school (he's been admitted EA to Stanford, is waiting to hear from MIT and some UC's). </p>
<p>None of these sponsor NM scholarships. He put undecided on the initial application. What should he do now? Just wait until he decides to send in his college choice, which may end up being close to May 1? Hope he gets a NM $2500 scholarship in the meantime? There is a small chance that he would go to a school that is a sponsor, but he won't hear from that school until April 1, and wouldn't make the choice to attend that school until close to May 1. Any advice would be appreciated.</p>
<p>If he chooses a college that is not a NM sponser then there is no NM $$. In order to have a chance to receive NM$ he has to send in the card by April 25 naming as his choice of college one that does sponser NM$.</p>
<p>menloparkmom
What you say is not entirely correct, I think (though I admit I am still confused).
My daughter named Stanford her first choice college 3 years ago, knowing that Stanford is not a NM sponsor but also knowing that was the school she would attend. She received the $2500 NM scholarship directly from NM--one of the three possible scholarships. My question is that, if you name a school that is a NM sponsor as your first choice school by March 1, thinking you might attend that school, are you still in the running for the $2500 scholarship you get directly from NM? And, if you are offered the $2500, does that mean you now cannot get the NM scholarship from a college? I guess I need to call National Merit.</p>
<p>menloparkmom...
I think if a student indicates a school that is not a NM sponsor, the student will not get a NM award from that school. The student could still get one of 2500 or so $2500 one-time scholarships from the NM folks.
That's what happened to her friend, now at Yale.</p>
<p>it's a good idea to check with each school that is of interest to your d and find out what their institution's national merit deadline is........because, yes, some have different deadlines. my d went with undecided and did not list a school as first choice until in the spring after visiting. remember that some schools may require a separate application for their honors colleges, honor programs. some schools may require separate applications for additional scholarships. if i remember right, the total of the national merit award plus any additional scholarships cannot exceed the total cost of attendance for that college. am i remembering correctly? somebody please help me out on that one.</p>
<p>some colleges allow stacking and some do not.</p>
<p>The plot thickens..............I REALLY need to call NMSC Monday! I am not sure about the $2,500 awards from NMSC. Do they only give those out to students who haven't listed a first choice college? I really don't think so. I also heard that you CANNOT accept the $2,500 from NMSC and ANY amount of money from a participating college. The list of questions for NMSC is getting longer.</p>
<p>I agree-- the NMSF strategy is most confusing. Looking forward to hearing more about how to handle this, since I hope to do a better job with s#2 than we did with s#1.</p>
<p>Looked through my notes. This following is based on what I was told last year by the NMSC.</p>
<p>There are three types of awards... college sponsored, corporate sponsored and NMSC sponsored. First choice college designation only affects the college sponsored awards. They have nothing to do with the few NMSC sponsored scholarships that are awarded or the corporate sponsored awards.</p>
<p>Don't designate as first choice a school that is not a NM sponsor...there is no reason to do so. If you feel you must list a school by March 1 so your child is on the first list sent out to a college, have your student list their top choice college that DOES participate. Then take time to think things through, visit the schools that have accepted your child... and if you need to change the designation, you can via fax until midnight April 24, 2007. (NMSC told me that actually prefer to get the change of designation 24 hours ahead of the deadline for processing purposes, but that's just a preference.) The lists that are sent out to colleges only include the students who have listed that college as a first choice. In other words, if your student's name isn't on a college's list, the college doesn't know if your child has selected someone else or if they have remained undecided.</p>
<p>If you are truly undecided, you can stay undecided until May 31. If you have a school pressuring you with an artificial deadline as did the OP, go ahead and designate that school by March 1. As I mentioned, you still have until April 25th to change it. By April 25th, you need to either have designated your first choice college that you truly want or make sure your designation reflects you are still undecided. The first scholarship offers are mailed on April 25th, and once an offer leaves NMSC, that's it. No more offers will be extended. You can go back and forth between undecided and a college designation if necessary.</p>
<p>As soon as you know, have your child send a letter to all their colleges (including nonparticipating colleges) to let those colleges know your child has progressed to National Merit Finalist. Lists are sent, but don't rely on others to get that good news out. Do it yourself.</p>
<p>Again...this is all based on my notes from last year. Please take the time to verify my info with NMSC. They are very willing to help with any questions.</p>
<p>Rice University's website explains things very nicely. Note especially their advice in the last paragraph.</p>