NMF Timing - When to Name BAMA 1st Choice

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Alabama
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<p>Is it okay if an NMF doesn’t choose a 1st choice college by March 1? At Bama, will an NMF still be gauranteed the NMF package as long as he/she reports Bama as a first-choice school by, say, mid-April? Isn’t the deadline to report, as far as NMSC is concerned, May 31?</p>

<p>I can’t see any reason for my son to wait THAT long ('til May 31). But we do feel that, in our situation, it’d be wiser to wait until all packages are in from all schools. That should be around the 1st week of April.</p>

<p>Will that be a problem with Bama’s NMF package? He loves Bama … and he’ll likely end up there … but can he wait?</p>

<p>We know that you can always change your 1st choice without consequence, up until April 27th, but it seemed to me that it would be easier to just name a 1st choice school once, in mid-April, than to make a change. Am I wrong?</p>

<p>Anybody here have any experience with this? Thanks! :)</p>

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<p>My son did list a different school for several months while he applied to other places. During that time, he even went to Alabama as a computer-based honors finalist. Still, he wanted to wait to see what happened with his other applications. Two of the schools where he earned acceptance did offer some additional scholarship money for his NM status, but the amounts were not enough to change his thinking.</p>

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<p>^Thanks, momreads. Yeah, that’s exactly why we’re waiting. It just does not make sense, for us, to apply to several schools and then commit himself to one before all the information is in.</p>

<p>Do we think that ANYBODY will come close to Alabama’s package? Not really. The chances are slim to none. </p>

<p>But we both just think it’s wiser, in our circumstances, to wait. Sure wish all that info were here already! This part of the process (between completing apps and getting all the financial aid packages) always seems to take an eternity!! :)</p>

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<p>Has UA increased or improved its NMF package to match the improvements Auburn made to theirs?</p>

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<p>What improvements has Auburn made to theirs. If anyone has a better offer from Auburn (for anything), please let Bama know…I think Bama will try to match it.</p>

<p>* Isn’t the deadline to report, as far as NMSC is concerned, May 31?</p>

<p>*</p>

<p>I’m not sure what the deadline is, but since students have to choose their schools by May 1st, there wouldn’t be a reason to wait that long.</p>

<p>Students certainly can wait til they get their FA packages from various schools…which will come in March/early April, so at that point, a student can make their #1 choice.</p>

<p>Bama doesn’t require being named early, but some schools do.</p>

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<p>Just wanted to add…</p>

<p>If you want your choice of housing, don’t wait to deposit. Last year, those who waited to deposit found choices very limited.</p>

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<p>We threw away the Auburn letter, but the scholarship for NMF offered more money yearly and more money for travel. Overall, I think it was around 6000.00 more for four years.</p>

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<p>Also Simplelife, if your son waits too long and gets offered a Merit package from a college, he cannot get an offer from another school. If he is planning to wait, make sure he is listed as undecided. Check the Merit Leaflet from the National Merit site for further clarification. The way I understood it, you should notify by March first for the college to be notified in the first sendout of names. Download the file from NM and read it again.</p>

<p>Quoting from leaflet "Schedule specific to college-sponsored awards:
March 1 through May 31, 2011: 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 27, 2011: 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. Therefore, a Finalist who has previously reported a sponsor college as first choice but is uncertain about it maychoose to notify NMSC that he/she is now “undecided”; such notification must be received at NMSC, via mail or by fax to (847) 866-5113, before April 27. The Finalist can report a firm college choice that NMSC receives by May 31.
May 31, 2011: Deadline date for NMSC to receive reports of a sponsor college as first choice. Because it is necessary to end the competition in a timely manner, only college choice reports that NMSC receives by
May 31 will be used to identify the final group of candidates to a college or university that sponsors awards.</p>

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<p>*We threw away the Auburn letter, but the scholarship for NMF offered more money yearly and more money for travel. Overall, I think it was around 6000.00 more for four years. *</p>

<p>Auburn NMF</p>

<p>Tuition for four years, currently valued at $31,600 ($7,900 per year) for residents and $87,664 ($21,916 per year) for non-residents </p>

<p>$1,500 technology allowance in the first fall semester</p>

<p>Auburn Academic Guarantee

  • Invitation to participate in the University Honors College</p>

<ul>
<li>$4,000 enrichment experience stipend available for one semester after the second year</li>
</ul>

<p>On-campus housing allowance for four years, currently valued at $18,200 ($4,550 per year)*</p>

<p>University stipend for four years at $4,000 to $8,000 ($1,000 to $2,000 per year), depending on eligibility as determined by National Merit Scholarship Corporation and/or financial need as determined through completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). </p>

<p>The extra $1k per year is if you can demonstrate need. </p>

<p>Yes, the study abroad is $2k more, BUT…Auburn charges an “upcharge” to NMF’s if they want to be in Super Suites…the charge is about $1300 per year. Bama doesn’t charge for that. </p>

<p>So, all in all, the overall scholarships are very close.</p>

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<p>We went through the NMF process last year and UA’s scholarship office told us that our son would receive the Top Scholars/NMF package (minus the laptop computer) if he enrolled at Bama, regardless of whether or not he listed UA as his #1 choice. If, on the other hand, he wanted the computer, he needed to list Bama #1 by the NMF final deadline for doing so, which I believe is late May.</p>

<p>When in doubt, call the scholarship office:
Local: (205) 348-8201
Toll Free: 1 (800) 933-BAMA (2262)</p>

<p>By the way, and I’ve mentioned this in another thread, the computer Bama awards is a fine machine, not a flimsy throw-away.</p>

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<p>Thanks, everybody. Good info there.</p>

<p>Agreed – no reason to wait until May 31. That makes no sense, for exactly the reason you named, m2ck.</p>

<p>Already made housing deposit in October. So that won’t be a problem, thank goodness.</p>

<p>girlzmom, I did download the same NMSC thing you were talking about, just prior to posting, and read it – but I still worry sometimes that we’re going to make a wrong move! :slight_smile: Somebody mentioned on another thread that NMF scholarships will come out in mid-March as long as kids name Bama as their 1st choice. And that got me worrying – because my son was going to delay the naming of his 1st choice school until mid-April, after all offers arrive. He IS listed as undecided and plans to stay that way until mid-April – unless we learn that’s a mistake. :)</p>

<p>I’ll admit: I don’t quite understand the little blurb about “finalists who have reported a sponsor college as first choice [by Mar 1] will be included in the first group referred to the institution for scholarship consideration.” I’m guessing that it’s referring to schools who offer their NMF packages to only selected candidates … and the ones who name their school later than Mar 1 might discover that their school has run out of NMF money??? That’s a guess. I didn’t think it applied to Bama … but then, silly me, I worried. </p>

<p>Somebody told me once, I think it was you, m2ck, (but it may have been somebody else, possibly from another forum) that the NMSC WANTS to maximize scholarships for their NMFs. That everybody, the colleges and NMSC, will work with you to maximize the benefits to the student. I rest on that thought when I start to worry about passing up a golden opportunity like NMF money.</p>

<p>malanai, you delivered the best news of all – my son doesn’t EVER have to list Bama as his first choice, and he’ll still get the big package, minus the laptop?? That’s awesome. Not that he would PLAN not to list them … but with a deal like that, it seems like he “fails-safe” into a great scholarship package, no matter what happens.</p>

<p>And thanks for the contact numbers! We’ll put them to good use! :)</p>

<p>Thank you, thank you, everyone!!</p>

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<p>Another thing about the nmf scholarship that isn’t as publicized: it’s worth up to 20 credits per semester. Not sure what Auburn’s cap is.</p>

<p>And regarding the computer: it’s Crimson (that just filled my D with glee the first time she saw it ;)</p>

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<p>^gosh. the news just keeps getting better! 20 credits? That’s a bunch!!</p>

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<p>^^^it is a bunch! D took 18 credits in the fall and “only” 17 credits this Spring. That plus her AP credits means that come May 6th she’ll have junior standing after 1 year of college. Of course, she pales in comparison to some of the other students on here, but this definitely gives a lot of room for multiple majors, minors and/or beginning master’s level work early.</p>

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<p>*Also Simplelife, if your son waits too long and gets offered a Merit package from a college, he cannot get an offer from another school. *</p>

<p>that isn’t true. My son was offered 5 NMF scholarship offers from various schools. He had another school named as first choice, but then decided to go to Bama. </p>

<p>I believe that TimeFlew’s D had another NMF offer, and then turned it down quite late and went to Bama.</p>

<p>My son’s friend was going to go to Miss State on NMF, but changed to Bama in mid-May.</p>

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<p>Another question here regarding the two schools ('Bama vs. Auburn) that I don’t see brought up much.</p>

<p>Is there a significant difference in the research $$$ each school has available to them? Since UA is a larger school I would expect that more research money is apportioned to UA and therefore there might be more opportunities for students to participate in the research there. Does anybody know?</p>

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<p>Straight from the National Merit instructions</p>

<p>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. Therefore, a Finalist who has previously reported a sponsor college as first choice but is uncertain about it may choose to notify NMSC that he/she is now “undecided”; such notification must be “received” at NMSC, via mail or by fax to (847) 866-5113, before “April 27”. The Finalist can subsequently report a firm college choice that NMSC receives by May 31. </p>

<p>Maybe AL offers regardless, but NM says the above with quoted words in bold print.</p>

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<p>Mom2</p>

<p>I guess they are very close when you look at it that way. We were reading that the 2000 a year was what you would get. We did not REALLY read it well since we knew she was not considering Auburn at all. My daughter did not look at the letter at all since it was from Auburn. We got that in the mail upon our return from our BAMA campus visit and we got a good laugh over that. But I see my estimate of 6000 more was about right if one gets the max benefits from it. Though super suites are very nice, if my child was wanting Auburn, I imagine she could make do in a regular room if it was included in the scholarship. These scholarships have come a long way since I went to school. Academic sholarships rarely included more than tuition when I went. I had to work summers to pay for my room and dining plan. Dining options have come a long way too. We had steak the day we went for a visit.</p>

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<p>*Somebody told me once, I think it was you, m2ck, (but it may have been somebody else, possibly from another forum) that the NMSC WANTS to maximize scholarships for their NMFs. That everybody, the colleges and NMSC, will work with you to maximize the benefits to the student. I rest on that thought when I start to worry about passing up a golden opportunity like NMF money.</p>

<p>*</p>

<p>Yes, it was me. NMCorp will work with each finalist to get the best situation. NMCorp called our home for this reason (sometime in March or so of our son’s senior year). They knew that our son was eligible for a corporate scholarship and that he was going to Bama. So, they told us to decline the “official” part of the Bama scholarship (the $1k per year) and accept the larger corporate NMF scholarship. this way, our son got the “most” possible…the big NMF scholarship from Bama (minus $1k) and the corporate scholarship. So, he gave up $4k and gained $10k.</p>

<p>I think what confuses people is that the big school NMF offers are not “official NMCorp scholarships”…only a small portion is (usually about $1k). That gives schools flexibility. </p>

<p>The “official” part is managed thru NMCorp…the unofficial part is managed by the school (no middle man).</p>

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<p>That certainly explains things a lot. I wondered why anyone would want to get the so called regular NM Scholarships for a few thousand when they could have the school offer for full tuition if they were going to a university that offered them.</p>