<p>I just checked my status! No mail yet, but I received the $2500 scholarship! Psyched! This is the only scholarship I got haha.
State: Georgia
SAT 2220–Math 770, Reading 730, Writing 720 one sitting
PSAT 228
Sat subject–Math II 800, Chemistry 800
ACT 34 one sitting
AP Scholar with Distinction, 10 APs, all 5s
GPA 4.3
ECs: Tennis, Science Fair, Math eam</p>
<p>I just received the $2500 scholarship!
State: Texas
SAT: 2350, 800 M, 800 R, 750 W
PSAT: 226 (80 80 66)
SAT Subject: Math 2 800, Bio 800, Chem 790
AP Scholar with Distinction
No extracurriculars/awards</p>
<p>@csman123 did you receive notification through mail, or check online? I was just curious since I wanted to know if decisions are released in waves.</p>
<p>I received my scholarship through regular mail yesterday night
I didn’t check online until after I had received the mail. The offer date was March 27 and had a reply deadline of April 9. </p>
<p>(Sadly) I might not be able to claim the benefit of $2500 because I am going to Vanderbilt, which has its own scholarship worth over that amount.</p>
<p>@csman123, Have you checked with financial aid at Vanderbilt about whether they will still award you the $5000 per year NMF award if you decline the $2500 NM scholarship? I have read elsewhere on CC that if you decline the $2500 award, you are not eligible for any other award. </p>
<p>Also, Vanderbilt says they will supplement any 1 time awards, so I think you could accept the $2500 as well as the Vanderbilt award.</p>
<p>From Vandy’s website:</p>
<p>“Those finalists who do not receive an additional merit scholarship from Vanderbilt will receive a total of $5,000 per year in National Merit or Achievement scholarship from all sources (with Vanderbilt supplementing any smaller corporate or one-time National Merit Corporation awards).”</p>
<p>@belle25</p>
<p>I claimed my award. I meant that I might not have the extra benefit from obtaining the $2,500 award since had I not won the $2500, I still would have gained the $5,000 NMF award from Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>@csman123 - You will get $17500 spread out over 4 years - Here is the email from Bren Tener :</p>
<p>A $2,500 National Merit award will replace the Vanderbilt $2,000 commitment for any year that award is made from National Merit. If the $2,500 award is for one year only, we would then add the $2,000 for years 2, 3 and 4.</p>
<p>Please let me know if you have additional questions.</p>
<p>Sincerely,</p>
<p>Brent B. Tener</p>
<p>His reply say $2000 because I already have an award with Vandy</p>
<p>Oh yes, I see that now. Thank you for the clarification. I just hated the thought of you missing out!</p>
<p>My son got the $2500 award from NMSC</p>
<p>He is also hoping to get the automatic half tuition award from USC.</p>
<p>I am not sure he should accept or decline the $2500 award in order to get the much larger award from USC.</p>
<p>I am afraid if he accepts the $2500, he cannot get the USC half tuition.
I am also afraid if he declines the $2500, he could also not get the USC half tuition.</p>
<p>What is the correct thing to do? help!</p>
<p>Finally, can he get both? USC half tuition plus the one time $2500 from NMSC?</p>
<p>@rgosula
I think if you name USC as your first choice college on the NMSC website, then they will give you the automatic half tuition- it does not matter whether you accept or even got offered the $2500 (although I think you should 100% accept). However, I don’t know if he will get $2500 in addition to the half tuition award, or if the half tuition award replaces the $2500
I’m not familiar with USC so if you really want some clarification, you can call/email them</p>
<p>@Confucious2014
Thanks for the info!</p>
<p>@rgosula <a href=“National Merit Scholarships - #9 by alamemom - University of Southern California - College Confidential Forums”>National Merit Scholarships - #9 by alamemom - University of Southern California - College Confidential Forums;
<p>The USC 1/2 tuition award is NOT administered by National Merit Corp - it is a USC merit scholarship</p>
<p>Congrats to the scholarship winners! </p>
<p>I second @Dildil’s question. I didn’t receive anything in the mail and nothing comes up on my online account. Is it still possible to get the scholarship? </p>
<p>@jumper008
If you had not received anything in the mail and nothing comes up online, then you did not receive the $2500 scholarship, since the deadline to accept the scholarship is in four days</p>
<p>However, there are corporate sponsored scholarships and school-specific scholarships, so don’t lose hope!</p>
<p>@csman123
Those corporate ones are not eligible. For school specific one, it depends whether you will go to that schools too. For most NMF, the $2500 is the only hope.</p>
<p>My daughter still did not receive anything from NMSC, but she got a letter from Washington University at St,Lous [WashU] sponsoring her for the $2000 Scholarship since she is a Finalist. As far as I know they work with NMSC. My daughter has listed them as her first choice.
If she accepts it then will she becomes a scholar ? </p>
<p>It looks like to me as college sponsored NMSC, but not sure</p>
<p>@Dildil you are correct. If she has WUSTL listed as her first choice on May 1st, and then attends WUSTL, she will receive WUSTL’s college-sponsored $2000 scholarship from NMSC and be a National Merit Scholar (not that that designation really means much beyond being a finalist.)</p>
<p>I also got the 2500 scholarship, but I’m not sure if I should accept it. Would Stanford or MIT give me more money than this if I declined the offer? I think that if I accept it then I’m I eligible for college sponsored awards, but correct me if I’m wrong. I don’t think Stanford or MIT sponsor their own NMF awards but I’m not sure…and this award is only a one time thing, so it’s not renewable each year right?</p>
<p>@dildil The only difference at WashU is that people who get the $2500 scholarship receive $2,500 per year instead of $2000 per year for finalist (yes WashU does give the extra $500 for the scholarship winners). Both are considered national merit scholars.</p>
<p>@amoeboid6 Why would you not accept the scholarship? If you have financial aid fully met, the scholarship will cover the student contribution part or loans first, not need-based grants. Stanford and MIT do not give their own NMF scholarships (since they have so many), so you should accept the $2,500.</p>
<p>I’m trying to think of a reason why anyone would ever decline the one-time $2500 scholarship? </p>
<ol>
<li> If the school you’re considering doesn’t offer any other NM money, you will have $2500 towards the cost of that school and it’s simply an outside scholarship.</li>
<li> If you have a first-choice school that offers an “official” school-sponsored award, declining the $2500 award will mean you get NOTHING!! Since you’ve been offered an official NM award you WILL NOT be offered the school-sponsored award even if you decline the $2500 scholarship, so you’ve only screwed yourself.</li>
<li> Some schools will augment a $2500 over the course of a student’s 4 years to make sure that all NMFs who attend that school get the same total amount, but others will not. You may have “lost out” on some money by being selected for a one-time award, but declining it will not change that situation. See #2.</li>
<li> Your acceptance of a one-time has NO EFFECT on any of the large “unofficial” NMF scholarship packages (UKy, OU, Ok State, UCF, etc.)</li>
</ol>
<p>There may be some schools where it makes a difference (Vanderbilt perhaps??) but if so they’re few and far between.</p>
<p>@Wolverine86
There is a reason for some. For example, if you receive the $2500 from NMSC, you will not get the $2000/yr from Northwestern.</p>