<p>I'm trying to understand how to make the most of NMF status. Can someone please tell me whether I've got this right and help fill in the gaps? </p>
<p>DS did not apply to any schools that offer full scholarships to NMFs. He did apply to a few that offer partial scholarships to students who name the school as first choice. He'd be happy to attend any of these, but none is his dream school. The dream schools do not offer their own NM scholarships so, if I understand correctly, he'd be limited to $2500 if (1) he names one of these as first choice and (2) he actually makes National Merit Scholar. </p>
<p>My first question is: what does it take to go from NM Finalist to NM Scholar?</p>
<p>My second question is: Does the following strategy work? He names his favorite scholarship-offering school as his first choice. (I think he already did this). If he gets accepted at a dream school and decides to attend, he can switch as long he does it before the 4/26 deadline. Correct?</p>
<p>My DS is also a semifinalist and I presume will soon be notified of finalist standing. I have been trying to learn about the process of first choice selection and this is my understanding:</p>
<p>Second question first: I believe your strategy works. If more than one of the NM scholarship-offering schools is still in the running, find out what each of them requires in order for your S to be considered for their scholarship. For most schools it seems that you can send them a copy of your S’s finalist notification and they will let you know what his scholarship “would be” if he names them his first choice by X date. The dates are usually very late (end of April) but you would want to be aware if any of the schools require an earlier date. </p>
<p>As long as all the schools he is is considering with NM scholarships allow the student to name them as first choice as the last minute, then the strategy is for him to decide where he’s going first, and then mark whatever school that is as his first choice school. (If only one school has an earlier deadline, he could mark them as first choice for now, and then change to another school later when he decides where he really wants to attend.)</p>
<p>My son is still “undecided” but I think that changing schools is just as easy as going from undecided to a decision.</p>
<p>First question: One moves from finalist to scholar by being offered a scholarship. If your son names (and attends) a school that offers guaranteed scholarships he will become a scholar when the school grants him their scholarship. If he does not attend a scholarship-granting school then he will be competing with everyone else not attending a scholarship-granting school for one of the $2500 scholarships (or possibly any corporate-sponsored scholarship he may be eligible for). I’m not sure “what it takes” to get offered one of those $2500 scholarships, but only a fraction of the finalists who don’t attend a scholarship-granting school end up getting them.</p>