@Hades321 March 1st? That sounds early to me. I remember when I first looked at the whole process, it was seemed confusing. I think a 209 commended has taken us out of the running. I’ve been kind of keeping an eye on the NM threads.
@snoozn We’re with you. List is somewhere around 20+ right now, and D will probably apply to 12-15. @Ynotgo I think if you are talking about applying to several lottery schools where admittance rate is less than %20, then I could see the number of schools your kid is applying to increase a fair amount (not because it increases your chances at getting in to a lottery school, but because you still need choices if you don’t).
I just want to say that schools with that personal touch just make you feel better about this process. A hand-written note from an admin officer at one of the schools that D visited over spring break arrived in the mail this week. (Not that fake cursive printing, either ) It was very nice, and the school was D’s favorite. I know that AO’s hand is probably cramping from all the writing she’s been doing to all those who visited, but it’s a nice touch nonetheless.
What is this about declaring first choice schools for NMF?
And I assume there isn’t anything anyone has to do/can do now for NMF because the names and cut-offs will not be released until September?
We are nowhere near coming up with a final college list, but I can see it being long. Off to visit six schools this week. LOTS of driving up and down 95 in the northeast. More than the driving, I dread trying to find the non-existent parking and then the elusive admissions building! And then racing off to do the same in the next city.
@CT1417 The declaring a first choice school for NMF happens about a year from now. I don’t know whether it’s March or May, but I do know that we don’t need to worry about it until after applications and acceptances.
@CT1417 I hear you. We did two schools in a day twice on our trip. It was a little rough. Much more enjoyable if you can save an entire day for a school, which is a necessity if you plan to attend both an info session/tour and sit in on a class (which we never did), or hang out in the quad or dining hall or student union. Several schools we visited had construction going on, making parking all the more challenging. Get there early!
We are trying to do info session + tour for Wellesley and Brandeis on the same day. Wellesley ends at 11:00am and Brandeis starts at 2:15pm. I am planning to take a taxi between the two schools but if someone can tell me better way, I welcome the suggestions!
@CT1417 From what I have read and heard you HAVE to declare a 1st choice that affects scholarships. I saw on National Merit site May 1st senior year however apparently some schools may have an earlier deadline on that selection. We are down to about 5 or 6 schools and I will have to ask a tons of questions during our visits. Please everyone keep in mind the GPA that your student needs to carrier to keep the scholarships while looking at colleges. @itsgettingreal17 brought that HUGE factor to my attention. So grateful for everyone on these posts. The information on here is wonderful!!!
I am jealous of those who have narrowed the list down already. I counted up my son’s list last week and he has 29, 9 safeties and 20 reaches (since he is looking for big merit there really aren’t any matches.) I told him to start looking at the safeties and eliminating them, because 9 safeties is ridiculous! I’d like him to get it down to 10 schools by September.
D15 was NMF and she didn’t put her first choice down until late March or early April after she received all scholarship info. Until then she was “undecided” as first choice for schools. I recommend NOT putting a first choice school down until a final decision is made, because if you put a school down and they award you a scholarship, and then you change your mind, you lose your scholarship. That said, check with the schools specifically for when you have to choose 1st choice. Some require you choose early April.
@HiToWaMom we find out the scores on April 19th, way quicker than SAT. I live on the east coast
@carachel2 we all seem to be in the same boat. @mtrosemom I hope you’re correct and that they did better than they think.
@Hades321 The deadline is May 31st to officially declare per NMSC. Some schools may require earlier so it’s best to check with the school itself.
@CT1417 I copied this from my D16 account as she is a NMS. Hopefully this will clarify school choice for you and anyone else.
COLLEGE CHOICE
College choice is not considered in determining whether a Semifinalist qualifies as a Finalist. However, it is requested because every National Merit Scholarship can be used only for attendance at a college or uni- versity in the United States that holds accredited status with a regional accrediting commission on higher education. All National Merit $2500 Scholarships and almost all corporate-sponsored awards (explained in the Information about the National Merit Scholarship Competition document) are transferable from one regionally accredited U.S. institution to another, but college-sponsored awards are not (as explained in the next section).
You are asked to report your first-choice college (to which you are applying for admission) on your National Merit Scholarship Application using the OSA. However, if you are unsure, indicate “undecided” on your application and report your first-choice college to NMSC as soon as possible. To report your college choice or a change in your choice, log back in at osa.nationalmerit.org using the username and password you created when you set up your account. Please note that you may not make a change to this information until your high school transmits the completed application to NMSC. It is your responsibility to apply and be admitted to the college you plan to attend.
REPORT OF A SPONSOR COLLEGE AS FIRST CHOICE
Consideration for a college-sponsored Merit Scholarship award is limited to Semifinalists who qualify as Finalists and who also
report to NMSC that a sponsor college is their first choice (see the list of college sponsors included in the “Competition Instructions” section of the OSA and at nationalmerit.org/resources.php);
have applied for admission to the sponsor college; and
have not been offered any other National Merit Scholarship (corporate-sponsored, National, or an- other college-sponsored award). No student will receive more than one scholarship offer from NMSC.
A college-sponsored Merit Scholarship award can be used only at the institution financing it and therefore is canceled if the winner changes college choice.
Schedule specific to college-sponsored awards:
March 1 through May 31, 2016: 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. Only the sponsoring college you have listed as your first choice will be notified. Periodically NMSC will notify sponsors of additional Finalists who have reported (by May 31) the college or university as their first choice.
May 1, 2016: 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 change in college choice will not be processed and 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 or she is now “undecided” to prevent being made an offer from a school he or she is uncertain about attending; such notification must be submitted online at osa.nationalmerit.org before May 1. The Finalist can subsequently report a firm college choice that NMSC receives by May 31.
May 31, 2016: 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.
@greeny8 Thank you for sharing this information. It seems like when you fill out the application for NMF that we need to check undecided unless our student is 110% sure what college they want to attend. Is that correct?
D got her ACT score back from the at school testing in March. It was the same composite as before and the essay is +1. Still, she did great and we are done with the ACT. She wanted to beat her brother, but she just equalled his scores. All her scores were equal or higher on this test, so at least we only have to send one score report per school. Interestingly, her score doesn’t appear on her online account, but there is time to sort that out.
She will take the SAT because she is in the range of possibility for NMSF. She took one subject test last year. We are still debating taking another subject test because we don’t know of any SAT subject tests required schools. She has a boatload of AP tests coming up and testing fatigue is setting in. At least we got her to agree to stop working both days of the weekend.
@Dave_N --Re: subject tests. I imagine you know that the May ‘early’ registration deadline was a day or so ago? Registration is still possible with additional payment.
I signed up for the May exam but am trying to encourage son to take the June date instead. He has this idea of taking USH on the May date and Physics on the June date, but the May date falls immediately after his Thurs & Fri AP exams with another AP on Monday. I don’t think he will want to be up and out at 7am on the Saturday in between those AP exams, but I decided to book the seat instead of arguing with him.
Congrats on the ACT score.
I don’t know how any Jr layers in a job on top of all these ECs and studying.
@CT1417, Yeah, you nailed it there with everything I thought after our trip! I cannot understand why any college in the country wouldn’t have huge signs pointing to admissions from the moment you turn into the campus.I got 2 parking tickets, but at least they were shredded by admissions. May the Admissions Force be with you!
@CT1417 It is only one hour test so it should be fine.
DS will resent History test if he had to do it in June. History is not his thing. DS is also taking Chemistry 4 days after AP test so for him 2 hours.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek, D15 put that she was a NMSF as an award/honor on her common app, so all the schools she applied to would know. When she was designated finalist, she contacted the schools she was still interested in to let them know.
) It was very nice, and the school was D’s favorite. I know that AO’s hand is probably cramping from all the writing she’s been doing to all those who visited, but it’s a nice touch nonetheless.