<p>Is there a point in applying for NMF if the colleges I'm applying to don't offer scholarships for NMFs? (By the way, I'm not changing my college choices based on this new information- it's just not practical for me.)
I'm more trying to rationalize it if I don't end up getting it, like it was useless anyway, but the question still stands.
My first choice college is an honors program in a regular college and it doesn't offer NMF scholarships. It will offer me a (hopefully full!) scholarship based upon my collective stats, and as I'm applying early decision, by the time the College Board tells me if I'm NMF I'll already have been accepted or rejected (admittedly if I end up back in the regular pool it could still help, but I'm hoping that's not going to happen).
My other colleges are very much backups (they don't offer NMF scholarships either) and as their deadlines are also quite early, I'm not sure my NMF status will really matter.
So, to sum up,
1) What are benefits of achieving NMF besides for scholarships? (I'd assume things like grad school, maybe, but I have no idea which is why I'm asking you folks :). )
2) If none of the colleges I'm applying to offer NMF scholarships (actually, my backup for my backup does, so I can't say NONE, but they offer it regardless of whether they're first choice or not), what college should I put down as my first choice on the app?
(BTW, I have a 221 in NY, so I kind of just barely scraped by- I'm not counting on any National Merit scholarships or anything.)
Thanks!</p>
<p>Yes, because you could win the NMSC $2500 scholarship that can be used at any college.</p>
<p>Also, it may help you to pick a safety school with less financial burden. My D actually name another schools as top choice in the NM application for that reason as her real top choices do not sponsor any NMF scholarship either.</p>
<p>I second BobWallace, apply for the chance for the $2500 scholarship that you could use at any school. Never hurts to try for this. Plus if something happens and you end up at a school that offers NMF’s scholarships ($1,000 p/year or more) you won’t be kicking yourself for not doing the work to become NMF. Its really not that hard on your part so for “just in case” reasons you should do it.</p>
<p>So what college should I put down as my first choice? (At this point I’m not applying to the only possibility that could possibly give me a scholarship for this- its deadline is after I’d receive my decision for my early decision college, so I may apply if I get rejected but I probably won’t. It’s not a fantastic college and I’d literally only be applying for the merit scholarship.)
Should I just leave it blank?</p>
<p>My son’s salary as an intern was bumped up $3 and hour when they learned he was a NMF. Having NMF status follows you throughout your life…weird as that may seem.</p>
<p>Put your first choice as your first choice. It can always be changed later, up until the deadline on May 1st.</p>
<p>Also, you say you are getting a merit scholarship from your college of choice based on your “collective stats.” Being a Finalist is a better “stat” than being a Semifinalist.</p>
<p>More than 90 percent of Semifinalists go on to be Finalists, so not being a Finalist is a bit of a red flag (to me). It shows you have great talent but that there is a little something wrong somewhere. Just my opinion.</p>
<p>i would because you never know what the future may hold.</p>
<p>Yes, you should. </p>
<p>Post 8, 1st paragraph – “Also, you say you are getting a merit scholarship from your college of choice based on your “collective stats.” Being a Finalist is a better “stat” than being a Semifinalist.”</p>
<p>It is always a good idea to get any scholarship you can take and go the extra mile to find out every single one you qualify for. There are probably at least hundreds of thousands of students who have gone through college without even realizing they could have saved money if they knew that there was a scholarship they qualified for. That said, I understand your sentiment, with college tuitions so out of control, NMF aid does not mean what it used to. My National Merit scholarship covered only 75 % of tuition, fees and room and board, and that was for a state school in my home state. Damn, these colleges gotta do <em>something</em> about their out of control costs - it is rising multiple times faster than inflation rates.</p>
<p>What are you planning on studying?</p>