<p>From what I understand, OSU pressures NM finalists into designating them top choice by March 1st by dangling the Distinguished (tuition + 4500) scholarship. If all my other schools don’t need a designation until May (some offering up to 15k a year), should I just ignore OSU? What are the chances of me getting the Distinguished Scholarship if I designate OSU some time in April?</p>
<p>I think I designated OSU by March 1 just in case (even though at that time it was my third choice), because I figured that if I changed my mind, I could switch to one of the schools with later deadlines at a later time...in other words, there would be time to switch from (but not to) OSU.</p>
<p>I think Ambi's strategy is a good one. From what I understand, if you don't designate OSU by March 1rst, they move on. Why risk it?</p>
<p>Exactly: we decided to designate OSU as first choice because that is where the money is among my S's choices. If he chooses to not attend OSU, he can switch the choice later by sending in the postcard or changing it on-line (before the deadline). My S's other choices only give around $2000 and the $$ difference is just too great. </p>
<p>I just can't see risking losing that much money when you do not know what other schools (you have not heard from) will offer. Even if you get into your "dream" school, the money may not be there in terms of what you and/or your parents can afford. Most of the highly selectives ignore NMF $$ because so many accepted kids are NMF (remember, colleges do have to run like businesses, unfortunately). </p>
<p>The day is probably coming soon for OSU to no longer honor the Distinguished offer without an additional piece attached to it. If they had around 127 NMF last year and their applicant pool is getting more competitive, they simply may not be able to make those scholarships automatic. Who knows, they may adjust how they do the Presidential process simply because there are so many kids flocking to schools like OSU because of the affordability factor.</p>
<p>You know, I've been thinking about this and there might be a wrinkle. Does anyone know whether the OSU Distinguished scholarship for NMFs is considered a "College Sponsored" merit scholarship by the National Merit Scholarship Corp? The reason I ask is language like this from their web site:</p>
<p>"Schedule specific to college-sponsored awards:
March 1 through May 31, 2007: A Finalist who has reported a sponsor college as first choice by March 1 will be included in the first group referred to that institution for scholarship consideration. Periodically NMSC will notify sponsors of additional Finalists who have reported (by May 31) the college or university as their first choice. April 25, 2007: NMSC will begin mailing college-sponsored Merit Scholarship offers. NOTE: If NMSC receives notification of a change in college choice from a Finalist after mailing a college-sponsored Merit Scholarship offer to that student, the Finalist cannot be offered another college-sponsored Merit Scholarship award. This applies even if the new choice of college is one that also sponsors Merit Scholarship awards."</p>
<p>It looks like OSU only considers the "first batch" of designees from NMSC (the March 1st batch). However, it seems possible that if someone designates OSU as first choice and receives an offer sponsored by OSU, that might prohibit them from changing their designation to another college later. If that is true, there might very well be a risk to someone who wasn't really interested in OSU since once they offer their Distinguished NMF scholarship, that might eliminate a student from changing their designation and getting another NMF offer from another college.</p>
<p>My son is only interested in OSU, but some of you who are interested in other schools as well may want to contact NMSC and/or OSU for some additional clarification on this.</p>
<p>The NMSC website with this information is here: <a href="http://www.nationalmerit.org/Merit_R&I_Leaflet.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.nationalmerit.org/Merit_R&I_Leaflet.pdf</a> on page 3 of the PDF file.</p>
<p>-PP</p>
<p>"if someone designates OSU as first choice and receives an offer sponsored by OSU, that might prohibit them from changing their designation to another college later."</p>
<p>That's what I heard from OSU's NMF Q&A session on the Maximus day. I think if I designate a top choice and get an offer, I cannot change it for a different school's offer.</p>
<p>I'm planning on staying undecided until late March or early April when I hear back from other colleges. I'm just wondering if OSU would still be able to offer money then?</p>
<p>Mwnivek - no. They say the March 1st deadline for a reason. These scholarships are a lot of money and they're not going to extend the deadline.</p>
<p>Penniless Parent - thanks for the info. I actually did the same thing ambi did, hoping I could change at the last minute, but perhaps that was a hasty decision on my part! Still, OSU probably offers more money than your top-choice school, and I have to say, it is a lot of money. Our financial situation changed around April of last year and suddenly OSU became my only option. If it weren't for the NMF scholarship, I would not be in college right now.</p>