@anniechris Congratulations to a fellow AE major!
NMSC is stilling selecting recipients for $2500 awards. Do not lose hope. This is because NMFs are allowed to accept only 1 award from NMSC. New $2500 award slots are open as some of NMF $2500 recipients are chosen to receive “bigger” (>$2500) awards (eg Special Corporate Awards).
Special Corporate awards are different than the corporate-sponsored National Merit scholarships. The Special awards go to kids who were close but NOT Finalists so they would not have any impact on the $2500 Awards that are exclusively for Finalists.
Not true, @Ireadcc. The Special Corporate Awards for non-Finalists have no effect on the NMSC $2500 NMF/NMS award. The regular corporate awards for NMF/NMS have gone out weeks ago. If the portal hasn’t been updated by now, there’s no $2500 for you. Sorry…
@albert69 and @STEMFamily , both of you are correct with Special Corporate Awards. In fact, I was referring to Corporate-Sponsor National Merit Scholarship Award. Some of these Corporate-Sponsor NM awards go to general NMFs. NMSC is working on these awards.
I am speaking with my son’s experience. He was awarded a $2500 award on Mar26. He accepted the scholarship, but early this week, he was contacted by phone from NMSC telling him that he is considering for another bigger award. Yesterday, his $2500 awards offer letter/acceptance information disappeared from his portal. Today, his portal is updated with a new award and he also receives a call from NMSC offering him an award. NMSC also advises him to accept the offer ASAP.
We never looked at the portal, we got a letter in mail Wednesday.
@Ireadcc Thanks for posting that information. There have been instances in the past in which posters have surmised that NMSC would offer a student the best award they are eligible for between corporate-sponsored and the $2500 but this is the first time I have seen someone post their actual experience. I am surprised that they didn’t hold off offering the $2500 at all until they knew for certain about the corporate award but perhaps some rare circumstance made that impossible to do in this case. In any case, I’m glad to see they do have the student’s best interest in mind.
However, I would caution people not to expect this with college-sponsored awards or to be led into thinking they should ever decline an NMSC award that doesn’t match their expectation of a different NMSC award. It is important to note that your son did accept the $2500. It was only through the action of NMSC itself that the change was made. It is still true that an NMF should always accept whatever award is offered.
Not sure who’s paying for it but our NMF kids have been invited to one of the ritziest hotels for lunch and miss a half day of school. At the Cery exclusive Broadmoor Resort. How nice!
Just want to share that WE HAVE A DECISION!!!
S3 FINALLY made the decision the rest of us all knew was coming eventually. He’s going to be a Texas A&M Aggie! H and I are happy, since it is only about 85 miles from here and it is the school offering him the most money - full ride plus. So Gig 'Em Aggies! We all had to feign surprise that he chose A&M.
That’s great, @Barfly! That’s a great school and full ride + is incredible.
Wow @Rdtsmith, the Broadmoor! My DS would have no idea what that means but I’m jealous 
Congratulations on the decision @Barfly! Lol about the surprise.
My DS made his decision this week too. It was added to his list as an afterthought and we weren’t able to visit until last week. That’s all it took. He will be accepting the generous NM scholarship at the University of Oklahoma. It’s 8 1/2 hrs from home but is actually the closest of all he seriously considered.
@Barfly, @STEMFamily, Congratulations on final decisions for two great schools! I’m sure your kiddos will thrive in their chosen programs.
FYI, my son accepted the NM scholarship at UNLV for mechanical engineering. Also a very generous scholarship with everything paid for + a generous monthly personal stipend & an extremely generous study abroad package. He’s already signed-up for a single on the honors floor & looking forward to orientation in May!
Congrats to your son too @LMHS73!
Congrats @STEMFamily, on your son’s choice of OU. OU and TAMU were the two universities all 3 of my boys were torn between. OU certainly knows how to recruit NM kids once they step foot in that National Scholars office. Funny thing - yesterday S3 got a letter from OU offering him $3500 more per year, on top of the NM package, from the PetE department. But he’s happy with his decision.
S enrolled at U Florida this morning. Finally finished with 4/4 kids and college application process. Full COA NMS with Florida Incentive Scholarship. Go Gators!
Congrats @Cshecmia!!
@Barfly TAMU didn’t appeal to DS because he didn’t like their marching band style and didn’t want to be in the Corps (because band members have to be in the Corps). Otherwise it would have definitely been a school to consider!
@STEMFamily, I completely understand My son has several classmates who are opting for UT and UH just so they can stay in marching band. They looked into other options at TAMU for playing their instruments, but since they really wanted to march, and didn’t want to be in the Corps, UT and UH were better choices for them.
We loved OU and I know any of my boys would have been happy there! It is strong in all of their majors as well. I don’t think you can go wrong choosing OU. Good luck!
Hello all- have not updated because D is still on the fence with her choices. This will be a tough one for her so we are giving UF one more chance to impress us. Still considering UCF, FSU, BAMA, GT, and UF, She dumped: Rice ( really poor financial aid and very little merit and doesn’t have aero) Colorado School of Mines ( good scholarship but just not the vibe she wanted) and RPI ( heard bad things about their current debt and emphasis on grad rather than undergrad. The money offer was good but they are overall the most expensive school- just not a good value. We love GT but is it worth it even with in state tuition vs. Full ride at UF,FSU or UCF???
Congrats to all with good news on college decisions.
My S accepted his full ride scholarship offer from Rutgers, New Brunswick. He will be part of the inaugural class in the new Honors College. It includes brand new housing and a ton of fabulous support and perks, including teachers and deans living in his building and 24/7 advising and mentoring. The honors college students will attend seminars on how to secure research positions by the Spring semester.
To top it off, we appreciate the $1,000/year college sponsored scholarship he will receive for his status as a National Merit Finalist. His education, maybe even books, will be just about cost-free! We are pinching ourselves!!
Best of luck to all still making decisions.