<p>I'm not sure I understand this, so I'm asking a question.</p>
<p>My son was notified yesterday that he is an NMF. He is applying to mostly to top schools. </p>
<p>He applied to two safeties, at least one of which is on the NMF list. Neither of these safeties is his first choice.</p>
<p>Should he notify the school/NMF that one of the safeties is is first choice? Because its not, and chances are he attend if he gets into one of the reach schools.</p>
<p>I know there are some very good posts on nmf strategy, but I haven't had to reference them because ours is clear cut. I would do a search on that. I think you can stay undecided for 1-2 more months, if you would know by then if your son got in his reach school.</p>
<p>Mommy_Dearest, you can wait until the last business day in May to make a school your first choice according to National Merit rules, but beware that some schools set their date of being notified as your first choice earlier than the date that National Merit sets. If there is only one school your son is considering on the NMF list, you could list that one as first choice but if there are multiple schools on the list your son is considering you might be best off waiting a while. Listing a school as your "first choice" has no impact on other schools you are considering that do not offer any money to NMFs. The down side to listing a first choice right now is that if the school you list makes you an offer, you can't get a NMF offer from any other schools. Hope that helps. There are lots of links posted to the NMF rules for reference.</p>
<p>noobcake don't understimate NMF</p>
<p>Are colleges notified about my finalist status?
My mom wants me to send something, but isn't it pretty much expected for semi-finalists to become finalists?</p>
<p>It's not that it will look good if you did make it, but how bad it would look if you didn't. I think it should be sent with your mid-year grades report.</p>
<p>I now have another question (I wish this was easier).</p>
<p>I just called my son's two safeties. One does not give NMF money, so that decision is easy enough. The second does give NMF money, but the deadline for naming it as the first choice school is March 1.</p>
<p>I'd obviously much prefer getting money (if possible) from NM corporation itself, since that is not tied to a school. But I'm also concerned that if I don't notify his 1 safety that gives NMF money, that I'll lose that money.</p>
<p>If I notify the safety that that is is first choice school
1) Do I forfeit any money that I may have gotten from the NM corporation, that is not tied to a specific school?
2) Does it matter that this school is not his first choice school, and that he will most likely not attend if he gets into his reach schools.</p>
<p>I'm assuming its not very likely that he'll get money from the NM coroporation. We live in one of the states where the cutoff is very high. so he did get a very good score. But of course, there are always others with higher scores, and I'm assuming the corporate money will go to those students first.</p>
<p>Anyone have any insights? I wish this was not so hard, but financing my son's education is definitely a concern.</p>
<p>Naming a school does not have any impact on whether a National Merit-sponsored scholarship is awarded. </p>
<p>If none of your son's other schools give National Merit scholarships, then go ahead and name the safety school.</p>
<p>I think naming a school DOES have an impact. However, I'm not sure about this.</p>
<p>Congratulations to all. Still no word. I asked our GC about it and she said she didn't even know anything would come to the school and that our principals desk is a "black hole". Who knows. At this point I'm just looking for a letter in the mail.</p>
<p>I feel for you GPdrummer08. It does say principal only open on the front of the envelope.</p>
<p>i haven't heard yet... but something wierd miight be going on at my high school
last year, my high school was never notified. the letters were mailed to the 3 finalists' homes last year, but the school never knew about it.</p>
<p>S was notified today with three others at a school academic event. Very exciting. Congratulations to everyone.</p>
<p>I think that's the main reason they wait, because they need to have time to make arrangements for the assembly. However, most schools today don't even mention it in the morning announcements.</p>
<p>Notified today. I'm pretty sure the other two from my HS also made it. </p>
<p>I think that naming a school doesn't affect whether you get money from the corporation. I'm pretty sure the scholarships are awarded in the summer - after you've decided on a college. If you decide to attend the school you designated as 1st choice, you get the money from that school. If you decide to attend elsewhere, you get the corporation's standard $2500.</p>
<p>I think.</p>
<p>Got notified today! My school has ~2000 kids and we had 3 finalists - myself and two other young men.</p>
<p>The National Merit-sponsored scholarships are awarded sometime in March. You don't have to officially name a college until later. However, some colleges want you to officially name them in advance of the National Merit date in order to be awarded a college-sponsored National Merit scholarship (and their scholarship packages can be much larger than what National Merit offers). It's a game.</p>
<p>Finally got notified just now. :)</p>
<p>Daughter is still awaiting word.</p>
<p>how did you get notified grdrummer? is national merit sending out emails?</p>