Nothing in Nebraska yet. I’m a worrier so won’t stop worrying until NMF is officially confirmed. My son will participate in National Signing Day on February 7th for his Soccer commitment. Sure would be nice to have NMF confirmed by that day as well!
@Susan1323, that’s great about signing day, congrats to your son for getting an athletic scholarship! He’s pretty unlikely to have NMF confirmation by February 7 though, since NMSC will mail the letters to schools on the 5th. Schools may not even receive the letters by the 7th, and then of course they have to navigate the mailroom and the GC’s inbox before the students are given the good news. Maybe your son will be lucky though, and have his NMF letter by Signing Day!
@Susan1323 I would think if he didn’t receive a rejection letter by feb 7 he can assume he made NMF even if the letter isn’t in hand. He will know it is coming. Good Luck! I’m hoping we can all start to breathe easier by the end of next week.
@Susan1323 I’d call NMSC, explain the early deadline and the “need to know”. They might be able to confirm for you. By they they would have released to the schools so even if there is a timing issue due to regular mail delivery, that information has already been disclosed so guessing they might not have a problem letting you know by phone.
@DiotimaDM your post at 1:31 on the 24th may be the best post I’ve ever seen on this website 
@DiotimaDM, I’m officially joining you in the no worry camp here in California. (And may I say I appreciate our new mail carrier’s earlier schedule that kicked in last week–we used to have to wait for mail until 5 p.m. PST!)
I do think they must look at a student holistically rather than eliminating someone for a single less-than-stellar grade. The source of my worry was a C (not even a C+!) semester grade–and yes, it shows on her transcript–from an IB math class my daughter took junior year. But overall her stats are excellent: full IB diploma candidate with a 3.94UW/4.74W GPA, 227 SI, 1580 SAT, with plenty of ECs and her school’s highest service award that goes to very few students. I hope in posting this info that it will alleviate some of the worry for parents in the future, including those in states with very high SIs. I do question whether students truly are weeded out state-by-state at this level, as some have suggested.
And I wanted to say how grateful I am to @ILcollegeDad06 and @FinesseKing for posting about the letters received. It’s hard to wait when there’s a lot at stake, and it was kind of you both.
No mail again today deep in the heart of Texas. My daughter says don’t tempt the jinx but I’m calling this done. 
Ode to an empty mail box…ahem
God i love you.
I had no idea that rejection letters were sent for this. Anticipating my son advancing to Finalist status, and not receiving a rejection letter here in Florida thus far is given me additional confidence. I will now still worry walking to the mailbox, though.
Informed Delivery Digest has been wonderful throughout this process! I get an email that shows me a scan of every letter set to arrive each day so I don’t have to wonder. It’s a free service from the USPS - check it out if you haven’t! The only thing I don’t see are larger flat envelopes (like when papers aren’t folded up inside). Normal envelopes and letters show up no problem.
Informed delivery is awesome, I started using it as soon as it was available for my area!
@traveler98 @iahomeschoolmom I’m wondering if it is working in my area. It shows nothing for the last week and nothing today. However we have received mail. Is it only letters? Or all types of mail?
As we get ready to move on to the next phase… when a student lists a college as his/her first choice, does NM notify that school about finalist status, even if that college is not a sponsoring one? If NM doesn’t notify, should the student contact admissions to let them know? What about if s/he is up for a major scholarship separate from admissions? I don’t think my daughter would feel very comfortable updating her status with colleges. But I think it’s information they should know—and perhaps could lead to extra merit money or be a plus as they consider candidates for scholarships.
If anyone is familiar with the process, please chime in.
@bama2000 for me it sometimes misses junk mail letters (like coupon packs addressed to “current resident” instead of my actual name) and of course anything large like a magazine. But it’s usually quite reliable for letters and postcards that include a named addressee.
Ok, so if the kids are NMF, they may or may not get the $2500. Then it’s whatever your university offers for NMF?
“As we get ready to move on to the next phase… when a student lists a college as his/her first choice, does NM notify that school about finalist status, even if that college is not a sponsoring one?”
- They only notify sponsoring colleges.
“If NM doesn’t notify, should the student contact admissions to let them know?”
I would - it’s quite an honor and could help in a regular decision or in determining merit aid.
" What about if s/he is up for a major scholarship separate from admissions? I don’t think my daughter would feel very comfortable updating her status with colleges. But I think it’s information they should know—and perhaps could lead to extra merit money or be a plus as they consider candidates for scholarships."
- You'd need to contact admissions to make sure all merit aid stacks. For example, if she wins an outside (Non-NM) scholarship, would that reduce any merit aid? Most likely no as merit is merit. It might, however, reduce any need-based aid (ie grants).
In addition to above, if you have possible multiple schools that are sponsoring colleges and your child is unsure where they want to attend, you might want to call and find out what their deadline is for listing them as first choice. Here’s why:
Last week I called the National Merit Corp Scholarship number. They explained they will send out an email to colleges March 2 with the list of students which have chosen them. About two weeks later they do it again, and then two more times between April 1 and May 1. The list of students does not go to all colleges, the names only go to the college listed as first choice. I was also told it is very common for undecided students to list their “first choice” and change later. In fact students can change multiple times before May 1, but be aware of the rules (we read through the 3-4 page document on their website) and my interpretation is you can’t go backwards and rename a school. Someone please help out if I’m wrong!
For my son, he has three sponsoring schools in his top five, probably his top three. One he will not even know if he is admitted until mid-to late March. Another one I called last week and they want their school listed as first choice by March 1. The third school said they would need to receive the information from National Merit by May 1. Therefore, he plans to list the one school by March 1 and re-visit (probably all three) in March. If he decides the school he has listed isn’t the one, he will change it. Please note these are sponsored schools that give $500-$2,000 annually.
Hope this helps!
My daughter has been accepted to 2 in-state public colleges through early acton (one of which is a great option and in her top 5 but is not a NM sponsor) and is waiting to hear from 9 more colleges – all mid to late March. (Most of themoffer merit aid, but three say they do not and unless they are generous with how they define need-based aid, will probably be out of consideration – but we figured it was worth a shot.)
My thinking was the following – please let me know if I’m off track, though.
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Early Feb. – update ALL her colleges that she’s a finalist so they can take into account and hopefully improve admissions chances and/or merit aid consideration
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End of Mar – Find out where she got in and what kind of money is being offered.
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Early April – Decide her top choice and if they are not offering the most money, see if they might match other packages.
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Before May 1 – Make final decision and then list that college as her top choice if NM-linked scholarship is available.
Does this sound about right? Tks!
That sounds about right, assuming that all the fin aid packages are out by end of March. Sometimes that drags into April for the elite privates, but if you have your COA spreadsheet up and running you can just plug those numbers in once they are “hot off the press” and get back to the schools quickly.
Make sure that the NM college sponsor(s) don’t have an early (ie March or April) deadline for notifying about first choice. When you update the NM liaison make sure to get clear directions if there is any question on that. Colleges really should wait till May 1 but a few like to wrap things up earlier and might have exploding offers or similar.
@JBStillFlying – thanks – that’s a good tip and I will check on any earlier deadline at the NM colleges – hadn’t thought of that. Thanks again!!