If you know your deadline is going to be May 1, you need to put “undecided” because otherwise your name could go to a school that you ultimately don’t commit to. If your name is on a list, that’s it - you won’t easily be able to change it to another school.
If you want to be on that first list out the door and you know you are committed to a school, then go ahead and specify as first choice once you have been named NMF in early-mid Feb.
Fortunately, everyone has plenty of time to figure all this out!
Does anyone understand well how the actual NMSC $2500 scholarships and the college sponsored scholarships interact with the guaranteed merit for NMF a school offers? I would assume it could vary from school to school but I wondered what is typical?
For example, DS may end up at Louisville were he will get tuition plus $8k stipend. It looks like Louisville typically sponsors 12 NM scholars each year. I have no idea whether I should care whether DS is chosen as one of the 12 or whether he is fortunate enough to win one of the $2500 scholarships. Do these awards typically end up being of benefit, or do the do the schools typically adjust the overall award so that every NMF ends up in the same place?
I guess this gets into each schools overaward and stacking policies. As I understand it there is also a limit on aid (merit or need based) to a total cost of attendence the school calculates for financial aid purposes.
Not true @JBStillFlying, it is possible to change first choice later. Say a student did not receive the Tulsa scholarship I mentioned above, or decided not to accept it if awarded, the student can still change first choice to another school such as Alabama after the Tulsa competition. It’s not correct to offer blanket advice that everyone should put undecided until the final college decision has been made. Rather, everyone needs to research the policy of every NMF school of interest to the student. It IS possible to change your mind about your NMF school, and it IS NOT necessary to wait until May 1.
amominaz: it’s no problem to list undecided until you get the college choice figured out. My S15 waited until the 11th hour to finally make a final selection of schools & then we updated the portal to change the undecided designation and include his school of choice.
Click on the link in LoukyDad’s post #1465 above and it will spell the whole thing out for you with all the deadlines and dates you need to know about.
@LOUKYDAD, my older daughter was NMF class of 16. She got 35 ACT and was valedictorian and got multiple additional scholarships beyond NMF. She also got the college sponsored NM award through national merit, not the $2500 but the one they mail you in June or maybe July- she gets an annual amount paid through the school. She chose a school in Texas that was full tuition plus cash stipends plus housing stipends but she also had other scholarships in addition and they let her stack all of them. She was considering a school in Ohio near where we live whose scholarship for NM is full tuition and housing. The Ohio school also sent her additional scholarships that gave her effectively a full scholarship and she won other scholarships which gave her more money than the published cost of attendance so That school then emailed us saying they were adjusting the NM scholarship award from them to reduce it to lower it to the cost of attendance. Short answer based on our experience- it definitely varies by school. Some will let you stack but only up to their published cost of attendance that is tuition, housing, books, food, travel, and personal expenses. The one my daughter attends haven’t given us a cap.
Too bad she didn’t apply soon enough to be a McDermott, I hear the McDermott at UTD is even better than the NM scholarship. UTD gives a fantastic NM scholarship and a lot of perks as well for being NM like early registration, early pick for housing her sophomore year- she got a single apartment because she got to pick first for housing as a NM which she loved! They do a lot for the NM students.
I second @shelleee, my DD is also at UTD on NM and it was a great choice for her. She also wishes she had applied for the McDermott. She thought the NM award was great (and it is) but what they do for the McDermott kids is just way beyond your expectations. Of course, they also require alot from the kids in return. They are the ambassador’s for the school.
@shelleee thanks for sharing. Just to be clear, your D was able to get additional merit money, via the college sponsored NM award, beyond the guaranteed merit other NMFs who are attending the same school received? If so, then the bottom line, even when you are picking one of the NMF big merit schools like UTD, is that progressing from NMF level (15k students) to NM scholar level (7.5k students out of the $15k) can still mean additional money (depending on the school and their policies)? Assuming there is any gap at all between the guaranteed merit award and the COA I suppose.
Sorry if I am thick headed. This stuff can get ridiculously confusing.
My DD at UTD is getting the school sponsored NM scholarship which includes tuition, fees, $4000/semester cash allowance and $1500/semester housing allowance for on campus housing. She also received a small corporate scholarship thru NMSC. She is using that for books and required supplies for classes. The scholarship thru NMSC has to be used on tuition, fees, books or supplies. It cannot be used for living expenses. The $4000 plus the $1500 per semester from UTD pays for room and board and it is taxable.
@LOUKYDAD yes D16 got a letter from NM scholarship in June or July that she was awarded $750 per year NM scholarship in addition to the UTD NMF scholarship. I think it’s part of the 7500 of the 15000, but the part called the “school sponsored” award. I don’t know if everyone at UTD got that. I can only answer for what my D16 got. You’ll get the letter from them as a NMSF. They told me they send the letter to all 16000 NMSFs. So you will see everything included. It even includes up to $6k for travel abroad. You do have to submit an application for the travel abroad money. My daughter used that benefit this summer and went to NZ. They treat the kids really special.
@DiotimaDM - I think I remember that your son had 223 in CA, which is the same as my D. Her name has been seen and verified in THE BOOK, so if you trust this random internet stranger, your S is IN.
S did alternate entry, qualifying with his SAT score instead of the regular way with the PSAT. I have doubly and trebly confirmed that NMSC has all of his info, that his SI is 223, etc., but the paranoid part of me worries that he’ll have slipped through the cracks somehow. Logically, we know his score qualifies, but I won’t rest completely easy until we have official word. (Unless your DH feels like sneaking another look at that book… LOL, j/k!)
@DiotimaDM I never heard of alternate entry, qualifying with SAT. Did S take that junior year and how/when did you get it submitted for NMSQT? Just wondering for future kids?
@traverler98 you will see that NMSC recommends you specify “undecided” till you have your first choice. And I never said wait till May 1st. In our own case my D was accepted in Feb. to her first choice and committed right afterwards. As she was named NMF around that time, she specified her first choice before March 1 and was on the first list to her school, thus guaranteeing she would get the college sponsored amount.
My advice was for those who figured they could strategically specify one school, then change by a certain deadline. You can certainly change all you want till 3/1 - after which time those lists start going out. If you’re on one of them but that turns out NOT to be your first choice school you would end up forfeiting your scholarship entirely (NMSC doesn’t guarantee accomodating last minute switches and the schools work off those lists unless otherwise specified).
Yes - research your applicable deadliens. And if there is any uncertainty don’t specify a school yet. As I mentioned earlier, there is plenty of time for that.
LOL, j/k!)