NMSF Process

Paying for College
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Is there a FAQ that outlines the National Merit process from when and how Semifinalists are announced to what is needed to qualify for Finalist and Scholar?

Also any information regarding which schools might provide some merit awards for NMSF’s - not necessarily full tuition or full rides - would be appreciated.

Thanks!

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This may give you a starting place.

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and

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Alabama for one. @tsbna44 may be able to suggest others.

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Ha! I have been on this site long enough that I feel like I can list them! U Tulsa, USC, Fordham, UT Dallas, Arizona are the big ones along with Alabama. There are other schools that provide very small awards.

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Thanks for the link to the leaflet. That leaflet has a link to this page that lists both corporate sponsors and schools that participated in the national merit program in 2023:

It would be great if there were a details regarding these awards for each of these schools but this is a great starting place.

Thanks!

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The colleges may vary their awards from year to year. Best to inquire directly.

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Also any information regarding which schools might provide some merit awards for NMSF’s - not necessarily full tuition or full rides - would be appreciated."

What areas of academic interest? Any geographic limitations?

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STEM not including biology or the life sciences. No geographic limitation.

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Have you found the National Merit section here on CC yet? (For some reason, your post got filed under the general “Financial Aid and Scholarships” section rather than the National Merit section.

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Here is a spreadsheet of some participating schools from another thread:

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One thing to be aware of: In order to get an NMF award, you may have to list that school as your first choice. (Read the fine print about the awards from the schools!)

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Oops. I had no idea that there was a National Merit section. I chose Financial Aid and Scholarships as it seemed the most fitting from the categories I noticed.

I’ll look at the posts in this section.

Thanks!

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This is quite what I was looking for.

Thanks!

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You are in luck. You will find lots of matches including:

Alabama. Big Southern flagship, with lots of school spirit, big sports and fraternities/sororities. Nice honors dorms. Check out Randall Research Scholars, Blount Scholars.

UT-Dallas. Not a typical Southern school. Hardly any Greek life, and only DIII sports. Instead super-strong chess and e-sports! Smart and nerdy vibe. Strong Math, CS, STEM in general. Terrific honors dorms. Dallas is a fun city and an airline hub.

UCF. If you want this one, and are out-of-state, you have to be in the first 40 NMFs to commit. Good engineering, including Aerospace. Big school, happy students.

University of Tulsa. This is a small private university. The new president is committed to building a critical mass of National Merit students (estimated 20% in the incoming freshman class.) Lots of mentoring and other great opportunities. Tulsa is a fun and hip city.

NJIT. Near NYC for internships. All sorts of strong tech programs. Over 70% male if that matters to your student.

University of Oklahoma. Is your student interested in meteorology? If so, no better school than this.

University of Maine. Or maybe your student prefers pulp and paper technology? If so, no better school than Maine. Plus lots of great outdoor winter activities.

Really, the list goes on. Many strong programs for STEM students. Others can jump in I’m sure.

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We thought this list was helpful we were looking for NMF scholarships for D21. (In practicality, the scholarships are granted for NMSF status since the finalists aren’t named until very late in senior year. I asked one school about it and they said that they can tell who’s going advance to finalists since they have the student’s grades etc).

The list was a few years old now, though, so of course you’ll have to see if anything has changed:

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I’ll check out the schools on this list.

Thanks!

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I’ll look into these schools. Thanks!

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There are a lot of schools that are listed on this pamphlet:

Many posts seem to center around the following three schools though there has been mention of Fordham, Florida State and Tulsa:

UT Dallas
U Alabama
U Oklahoma

I expect many of the schools listed on this link do not provide much merit or if so, the merit is awarded to very few. For instance, these three schools were listed which I expect fall into this category:

Boston College
Carleton
Vanderbilt

However, what about the other schools? For instance, these three:

Indiana University
University of Tennessee
University of Wyoming

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Yes, the reason Alabama, UT Dallas, Tulsa, Maine etc get mentioned so often is that these are schools that give a full ride, or near full-ride for National Merit and are very transparent about it.

Other schools give only a small amount (Bowdoin, Carleton, UChicago etc.) but at least spell it out.

With other schools (such as WY, TN, Indiana), it’s really hard to tell from their websites. Probably best to call directly to any schools that interest you.

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