<p>My ds received the NMSC one-time award offer of $2,500. The school that he plans to attend offers no National Merit Scholarships of any kind. </p>
<p>I am so glad I got on here - we have constantly been operating under the May 1 deadline idea. Fortunately, I saw that the "offer" had to be accepted soon and pulled out his letter! </p>
<p>It appears he MUST accept the offer by Wednesday, April 9th. Is this correct? Gosh, I am glad I caught this on here - thank goodness for CC! </p>
<p>I don't understand why the offer must be accepted by April 9th, but the first choice doesn't have to be named until May 1? He will go ahead and name the first choice school as he has made his decision.</p>
<p>@Hoggirl I won’t say I know why NMSC sets the deadlines that they do but for the $2500, the First Choice is for a different reason than getting a college-sponsored scholarship. The May 1st date is only relevant to NMSC college-sponsored awards (and it has nothing to do with acceptance in any case). Your ds has to name a First Choice college by the END of May in order that NMSC has time to verify his enrollment in an accredited school and to know where to send the check for the scholarship. The May 1st date does not apply in your case at all since he is now ineligible to be offered a college-sponsored award and the school he plans to attend does not have its own scholarship packages for NM Finalists.</p>
<p>@STEMFamily Thank you for explaining this. </p>