<p>Hi all,</p>
<p>I am a National Merit Finalist. I am a little confused on what my next step should be, though. Right now, I put my top choice down as USC because I know I am accepted there, and they give excellent scholarships.</p>
<p>However, I am still waiting on several schools to give me a decision. Will I be able to change the school if I decide not to go with USC for some reason? What should I be doing now?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>It’s complicated. Large awards tied to NMF status (like USC’s) are not official NMSC awards, so they all have their own rules and deadlines.</p>
<p>For official NMSC awards (corporate, NMSC, and college sponsored) the 2 important dates are May 1 and May 31. If you are receiving an official college-sponsored award, you need to have that college as your first choice on May 1. For any type of award, the final deadline to name your college of choice is 31 May.</p>
<p>Correct me if I’m wrong, but …</p>
<p>If you indicate a first-choice school, that school will get your name this week (March 1). If your first-choice school selects you for a college-sponsored NMF scholarship and you decide NOT to attend that school, your NMF scholarship cannot be transferred to another school.</p>
<p>SO … you might want to select “Undecided” instead of naming a first-choice school if there is some chance that you might, in the end, select another school. Why might you change your first-choice school? Financial reasons. Most of us are still awaiting need-based awards. </p>
<p>NMSC will start mailing college-sponsored NMF scholarships May 1. From the rules: “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.”</p>
<p>It’s pretty simple to change your first-choice school. Go to the NMSC website and log-in.</p>
<p>Good luck, all.</p>
<p>If you put “undecided” as the 1st choice college, would there be a conflict as the colleges has already set a deadline for it. For example, BU request NMF assign BU as the 1st choice school before March 1. If I change it to undecided, would BU consider my NMF status?</p>
<p>The “starts sending to colleges” on March 1 doesn’t matter for official NMSC awards, that’s just a head start for colleges. What matters for official awards is your first choice on May 1.</p>
<p>For unofficial large scholarships like USC and BU, you need them listed as your first choice by their own deadlines.</p>
<p>Thanks. How do we know when NMSC send the choice decision to colleges? Eg. if I set my 1st choice to BU noiw, which has a March 1 deadline, then in late April, change it to USC, will this allow me to be considered as NMF in both colleges?</p>