<p>My friend, was one of the four or five semifinalists at my school and scored above the required 222 on the PSAT. He wrote his essay, sent in his transcript, and did everything that he was supposed to do. Now he's a finalist, and is waiting to find out whether he'll be one of the 800 winners. Here's the deal: </p>
<p>1) Corporate-sponsored scholarships? Why would they give corporate sponsored scholarships? As in... special awards for chldren whose parents' happen to work at certain corporations. Maybe I'm dense, but I don't understand why two students with the same raw score should get different awards because one of the students' daddies workes at Steelcase Foundation Inc. or what have you. GAH! So much for """merit"""</p>
<p>2) If my friend does receive one of the National Achievement scholarships for $2,500, it'll be great. But, first, he has to tell them what college he wants to use it for. Well, he hasn't received his acceptances yet! When if he puts all his stakes on a college that he gets rejected from, and DOES get the scholarship? POOF! So much for that! And of course he can put down an "undecided" college until he finds out where he got in, but that is a risk as well... each college can only grant a certain number of national merit scholarships to students, and I'm pretty sure they are given on a first come first serve basis.</p>
<p>Seems gimmicky to me, no?</p>
<p>PS: Take the PSAT, guys... it's good practice, and it'll show you where to improve. Just don't count on a fair chance to get a scholarship.</p>