<p>Okay, my daughter has been notified that she is a commended scholar for the National Merit Scholarships. We went online and entered her first two choices of schools to send the report. Now I am wondering if we should have looked into this a bit more. Are there schools that don't offer this scholarship? If so, which ones? I am worried that we may have wasted a slot with schools that don't really care about this! Anyone know the "ropes" here? We are new to all of it, as she is my first. Thanks!</p>
<p>This was posted by HImom on another recent PSAT thread:</p>
<p>The schools you list in the spring of your junior year are NOT BINDING and really is just an opportunity to let two schools know you scored pretty well (203+) on the PSAT. As was said, in August or September of your senior year, you will be notified by NMerit or your school GC if you have scored high enough to be a NMSF or NAhievement SF. You will be given a packet of info to complete by deadlines to compete to be a NMerit Finalist or NAchievement Finalist.</p>
<p>There are various schools that offer merit aid based on your scores--from full ride (tuition, room and board) to lower amounts of merit aid. Some scholarships REQUIRE that you are chosen as a NMF or NAF to receive their scholarship while others just require you to meet a stated GPA & test score.</p>
<p>There are several good threads about merit aid offered by schools. UFlorida, UTexas, UArizona & AzSU are among those which offer very generous merit aid to high achieving students. There are MANY other schools as well, public & private. It is well worthwhile for students & their families to research these, since college is a large financial & educational investment.</p>
<p>You have until 4/19 of your senior year to change your choice of 1st choice school as a NMSF or NMF. You have until 5/31 of your senior year to select your 1st choice school. Some schools impose earlier deadlines for you to qualify for their NM scholarship, so it's best to contact the school(s) you're most interested in directly.</p>
<p>Ivies do NOT offer merit scholarships, including NM & NA scholarships. There are many great schools which DO award merit scholarships to carefully selected students, but the competition is extremely fierce.</p>
<p>Check the Parents forum for more threads on NM scholarships there are several that should be helpful.</p>