<p>Will the scholarships awarded in December be only the academic excellence and NMSF or will other scholarships be awarded as well?</p>
<p>For those with experience with Ole Miss scholarships, when did you hear?</p>
<p>I have been wondering this as well! </p>
<p>I did not know that scholarships were awarded in December. When? My ds received notification of his automatic scholarship award from Bama not too long after he was accepted. I didn’t know what the protocol was at Ole Miss.</p>
<p>Ole Miss sends non-competitive awards out in December followed by competitive awards in March. They have a priority scholarship application deadline of January 15th followed by a regular deadline of March 1. The priority deadline is for major awards and coincides with the application deadline for special programs like the Honors College, Croft Institute, Lott Leadership Institute, Chinese Flagship Program, etc.</p>
<p>My ds received his award letter today. It included Academic Excellence and two others. However, it does NOT reflect his National Merit Semi-Finalist status and amounts associated with that. Because of National Merit he is going to wind up ineligible for (per their on-line chart) two of the awards - Holmes and Technology - that they listed. I called them, and I <em>think</em> the additional National Merit award amount is only given after one lists Ole Miss as the first choice school through the National Merit Corporation??? Does anyone know? I am a bit confused about WHEN that has to be done. Ole Miss is high on his list, but he won’t hear from all of his schools until April 1. When does one have to accept Ole Miss’s scholarship offers? I wasn’t clear on this either! Just don’t want to miss a key deadline!!</p>
<p>I would encourage you to contact Mrs. Cindy May in the Office of Financial Aid. Her email is <a href=“mailto:cmay1@olemiss.edu”>cmay1@olemiss.edu</a> about the National Merit situation. The NMSF package covers tuition and housing (including non-res tuition if you’re OOS). It will cancel out the current awards of Academic Excellence, etc. From there, it’s applying to the Special Programs and Scholarships application - which is down until the 30th. UM Staff return to campus on the 2nd. </p>
<p>Ole Miss requires a confirmation by May 1 in accordance with NACAC guidelins (all schools should be following this and not pressuring a decision/acceptance prior to this - unless apply ED).</p>
<p>Congrats on your student’s accomplishments!</p>
<p>^Thanks, collegeguider. My ds has already completed the Special Programs and Scholarships application. He did this (I believe) along with his EA app to the Honors College (he was accepted!). His letter indicated he was a “finalist” (or something along those lines) for an Honors College scholarship, but I don’t know what that entails either! </p>
<p>It is good to know about the deadline of May 1. That was what I assumed, but honestly, there is some language on the National Merit site (not yours) that is confusing me! Some sort of March 1 initial date or something. I will call them after the holidays. And thank you for the name and address of the contact person.</p>
<p>^Hoggirl congratulations to your son on being a finalist! My child didn’t get that letter but was pleased to be accepted to the HC none the less.</p>
<p>I think those scholarships are very limited and I wonder if they roll to the next qualified applicant should the recipient decline the offer.</p>
<p>^really? Gosh. I suppose I need to call then. Do you just mean the NM scholarships or even the Academic Excellence scholarships as well?</p>
<p>My child is NMF so I don’t know about that but I assume all NMF’s would receive the same scholarship. The HC scholarship isn’t automatic, I think it is selective.</p>
<p>Yes, thanks. I know the Honors College Scholarship is selective, and I do believe all NM folks receive the same scholarship. But, if you look on that chart on their financial aid page it reads that the National merit scholarship is awarded in lieu of Academic Excellence. The letter my son received listed Academic Excellence (and corresponding OOS tuitions for Academic Excelence) based on only his grades and test scores. I am surprised your child did not receive any snail mail listing the academic excellence awards s/he qualified for. They are cut and dry based on that chart. That is the letter my son received. It was separate from his HC admission letter.</p>
<p>I think part of the issue is that one must jump through all the appropriate NM hoops before Ole Miss gives out that award, but I am not sure. Which seems odd to me because I believe that award goes to both NMSF and NMF. I think finalists are named in February??? But, since achieving finalist isn’t a criteria, I am not sure why they don’t list the NM awards instead of the academic excellence award. My ds received the Presidential at Alabama, but once he was named a semi-finalist he received another letter from them stating he would be eligible for the National Merit award IF he made NM finalist. Alabama only awards its NM awards to finalists.</p>
<p>I am probably not making any sense! I just want to make sure all the t’s are crossed and i’s dotted.</p>
<p>@hoggirl Your student’s status as NMSF will override the Academic Excellence. I would suggest contacting Cindy May <a href=“mailto:cmay1@olemiss.edu”>cmay1@olemiss.edu</a> to confirm that they know your student is a semifinalist in order to ensure the correct scholarship is awarded. Finalists are typically named in the early Spring, but if a student scores high enough, they may comfortably assume Finalist status. If your student advances to Finalist status, you’ll be asked to provide documentation to increase the scholarship.</p>
<p>Thanks, collegeguider. I have e-mailed Cindy May but did not receive a reply. I am sure she is extremely busy. I sent another e-mail just to the financial aid generic e-mail address asking about the deadline to indicate first choice on NM. It indicated they <em>believe</em> it to be May 1, but to contact the NMSC. So, it’s a bit confusing. They did indicate that I could simply mail in a copy of the NMF letter or certificate (or whatever it is he <em>should</em> receive) in February. </p>
<p>I guess I am still confused about who gets the NM award at Ole Miss. I had <em>thought</em> it was semi-finalists and finnalists, and I <em>thought</em> all colleges had a list of semi-finalists already. My ds is not ready to accept yet, as he is waiting on some other decisions. Do you think there’s any reason to push/contact at this point? I don’t want to be an obnoxious pest! But, if Ole Miss is the pick I do want him to receive the correct award. I sort of feel like we have time???</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>The Financial Aid response was correct. Students can actually change their first choice with NMSC at will. Ole Miss gets a list of the semifinalists and awards the NMSF scholarship based on that. However, when students advance to Finalist status in early Spring, colleges are not granted that list. For Ole Miss, students must produce documentation of Finalist status (letter or certificate). Once that is received, those students are offered an additional scholarship based on Finalist status. All NMSF receive the same base scholarship. Finalists receive additional funds.</p>
<p>I think you’re doing everything right at this point. Wait until other decisions and scholarship offers come in before you make your final decision. You have time to weigh the options - hopefully it will be Ole Miss 
</p>
<p>Hope that helps a bit!</p>