Urgent: National Merit Finalist Application - College Choice

Paying for College
1

Here are the instructions that are given for the college choice section of NM application
COLLEGE CHOICE
College choice is not considered in determining whether a Semifi nalist qualifi es as a Finalist. However, it is
requested because every National Merit Scholarship can be used only for attendance at a college or university
in the United States that holds accredited status with a regional accrediting commission on higher
education. All National Merit $2500 Scholarships and almost all corporate-sponsored awards (explained
in the Information about the National Merit Scholarship Competition document) are transferable from one
regionally accredited U.S. institution to another, but college-sponsored awards are not (as explained in the
next section).
You are asked to report your fi rst-choice college (to which you are applying for admission) on your
National Merit Scholarship Application using the OSA. However, if you are unsure, indicate “undecided” on
your application and report your fi rst-choice college to NMSC as soon as possible. To report your college
choice or a change in your choice, log back in at osa.nationalmerit.org using the username and password
you created when you set up your account. Please note that you may not make a change to this information
until your high school transmits the completed application to NMSC. It is your responsibility to apply and be
admitted to the college you plan to attend.
REPORT OF A SPONSOR COLLEGE AS FIRST CHOICE
Consideration for a college-sponsored Merit Scholarship award is limited to Semifi nalists who qualify as
Finalists and who also

  1. report to NMSC that a sponsor college is their fi rst choice (see the list of college sponsors included in
    the “Competition Instructions” section of the OSA and at nationalmerit.org/resources.php);
  2. have applied for admission to the sponsor college; and
  3. have not been offered any other National Merit Scholarship (corporate-sponsored, National, or another
    college-sponsored award). No student will receive more than one scholarship offer from NMSC.
    A college-sponsored Merit Scholarship award can be used only at the institution fi nancing it and therefore
    is canceled if the winner changes college choice.

As far as I understand, there is a list of colleges in the instructions that give scholarships to national merit finalists. Now the question is, should I put the schools that are really not my first choice schools as my first choice because they do give scholarships, or should I put my real first choice college even though they don’t give finalists money, just to show my interest in that school?

2

Put down as first choice, the school that will give you a NM scholarship. It does not effect schools that do not give NM scholarships. Show your interest in those schools in other ways - visiting, contacting the recruiter, interviews if needed.
Also, at this time if you don’t have a true first choice NM school, you can be undecided until early next year. Make sure you have a choice by March 1st (for some schools this is their cutoff) or May 1st by the latest.

3

^ This. You can adjust your #1 choice once you’ve decided on a college.

4

Ok, thank you very much.