When Do I Have to Declare a First-Choice College?

<p>I am a NMSF (likely to be a NMF next month) and am interested in possibly pursuing National Merit Scholarships. When is the deadline for choosing a first-choice college. Is it before I would hear back from all of my RD schools?</p>

<p>Which schools were you wondering about? most won’t require you to name a first choice until Apr 30 or May 1st.</p>

<p>However, some that have competitive merit, will require an earlier date.</p>

<p>Which schools did you apply to for NMF scholarships?</p>

<p>Here is the thing:</p>

<p>While I applied to Alabama, Oklahoma, and South Carolina for NMF purposes, I know that schools like Vanderbilt, Richmond, and maybe Penn offer some money. I also have applied to Tulane, Davidson, and Miami (in addition to being rejected ED at Duke) and may apply to a couple more. With those schools in mind, would I have to declare anything before April in order to receive NMF money?</p>

<p>You need to check with each school individually. They set their own deadlines.</p>

<p>Most colleges will list their date somewhere on their website. I think most of the schools that do not offer large Finalist packages along with their official college-sponsored awards from NMSC just go by the NMSC date. This date is actually later in May, but NMSC will mail the first award letters on May 1st so you have to be careful to either have your final first choice listed on May 1st or have your first choice listed as “Undecided” on that date. </p>

<p>But like others have said, you need to verify dates with the schools you are interested in.</p>

<p>I am glad you asked this SurvivorFan. I do NOT understand what that March 1 date is all about on the National Merit site. My ds would be in the same boat if the deadline is not May 1. He has safeties that will offer big $$ but has a couple of other more elite schools that would at least give a little. But those won’t give decisions until April 1.</p>

<p>March 1 is the date that the National Merit Scholarship Corporation will mail each participating college the list of National Merit Finalists who have that school as “First Choice” on record at that time. This date is only important to you if you are applying for a National Merit Package at a school that requires your name to be on that first list. Periodically after that NMSC will mail new lists, with the last based on first choice schools it has on record on May 31st. </p>

<p>One school I know that specifies the earliest March 1st date is the University of Tulsa for their competitive full tuition scholarship for which NMF status is a requirement. (These periodic lists from NMSC for first choice are the only verification a school gets of a student’s NMF status). </p>

<p>I can think of 2 reasons why a school would want to have the first choice names in one of the earlier batches (ie before the May 31st NMSC deadline): </p>

<p>1) Their scholarship is competitive so they need to know who is interested early enough to assess the candidates and make offers in a timely manner. This is especially true of a school like TU that invites the candidates to visit and requires an interview.</p>

<p>2) Their scholarship is guaranteed, but for budget planning purposes they need to know earlier than the beginning of June the maximum number of students that might take advantage of that guaranteed scholarship. This is probably especially true of schools that offer a large guaranteed NMF package along with the official NMSC college-sponsored scholarship. That official portion is administered and awarded by NMSC (not the school itself) and NMSC mails those letters starting May 1st.</p>

<p>Hoggirl: There is nothing wrong with naming one of the safeties as your First Choice early in the process so that your DS would be eligible for their scholarship. You can always change the First Choice on record to another school (or back to undecided and then subsequently to another school ) as long as you meet the date set by the second school (which may be earlier but no later than the last NMSC date of May 31st). Just be careful that you have either “undecided” or the correct school on May 1st as NMSC mails the first batch of college-sponsored award letters that day. If you have a school listed on that day, you will not be able to change it to a different school once the award is mailed.</p>

<p>^Thank you!</p>

<p>So the thing to do is call all the big merit $ schools and ask them when their deadline is to indicate first choice - is that correct? </p>

<p>That is my issue - I had called a school and was told that they follow the national merit timeline. I clearly need something more specific than that.</p>

<p>Hoggirl: I would definitely try to pin down the school on those dates. I just noticed that the website of the school that my daughter attends says May 1st is the first choice deadline in one line and then immediately below it says they follow NMSC rules. These two statements seem to be in conflict since NMSC sets a last date of May 31st. Maybe you can mention the May 1st or May 31st dates specifically when you talk to the school. And make them be very specific as to whether they are referring to the unofficial school NMF package or to the official part by NMSC or both. Or if you must assume something, certainly assume the earlier date.</p>

<p>It does not make sense to have a May 31st deadline and the student should be committed to a school by May 1st.
My D has named her second choice school as top choice a few months ago as the first choice school does not sponsor any NM Scholarship anyway. She may change that later on perhaps by the deadline. There is another school that offered her very good scholarships if she names that school as top choice by April. I guess she will decide where to go after getting more FA info from all the admitted schools before changing her top choice school in April and accept the admission offer afterward.</p>

<p>I apologize if this has been asked before in this forum, but I am a bit confused about the NMF scholarships. I know there are 3 types of scholarships- the $2500 from NMF, corporate sponsored, and specific ones from colleges. My question is, if you are offered the $2500 one time one from NMF or a corporate one, can you then not accept a NMF scholarship or package from a university? In many cases the university NMF offer would be better, and so would (or could) you turn down the NMF $2500 award? Would you need to turn it down in order to accept a NMF package from a university or can you accept both?</p>

<p>Most of the college awards aren’t official, so they don’t count. Usually only about a $1,000 is official</p>

<p>How do you know if it is “official” or not? I guess you are saying some of the major NMF full ride types like the UAB, Oklahoma, KY ones are not considered official? Still a bit confused! Also, is the $2500 NMF sponsored award only for one year?</p>

<p>Yes, $2500 official NMSC award is one year only.</p>

<p>The big NMF scholarships usually have a small ‘official’ component that they break out separately from the large unofficial component, so that they go on record with NMSC as sponsors. This separate component may be clearly described as such in the general scholarship description on their website(eg, UMN-Twin Cities), or you may not see it until it turns up listed that way in the financial section of your university account after you enroll. This is usually between $500-$2,000/year of the money. In many cases, it is variable, e.g., minimum $1,000/yr to all NMFs but up to $2,000/yr depending on need.</p>

<p>You can accept both. University policies vary in how they incorporate the official $2500 into their award. Typical is to substitute the NMSC $2500 for the $1000 you would have gotten from university the first year, and return to the $1000 university award in subsequent years, so that you come out ahead, but not $2500 ahead. There are a few universities that are reported to force you to take the $2500 instead of the $1,000-$2,000/yr so that you actually lose by getting the $2500. This is what I read here, not from personal experience. You can scroll back to threads in previous years on this forum to see discussion on the topic. The best thing to do is call the scholarship office of universities you might attend and ask them how they handle it.</p>

<p>The way I understand it, the school has no control over which NMSC-administered award a student gets. The NMSC mails the award letters for the $2500 awards in March or April, long before they mail the college-sponsored awards in the summer. The mailing of the award is the date that is considered the official offer, so once it is in the mail, you cannot change to a different award. Hence, one cannot refuse the $2500 and expect to get the NMSC-administered college-sponsored award later. So I think that $2500 award winners are at the mercy of the college itself to make up the difference out of their own funds. Most do make up the difference but probably not all. One would have to find out directly from the school if they do not post it on their website.</p>

<p>The one exception that I can think of is that the NMSC might see that a student has already chosen a first choice that actually has a better college-sponsored scholarship and contact the student about which they would want BEFORE mailing the $2500 award. I thought I had read a couple years ago about someone who got a call from NMSC in that regard. I could also be remembering that incorrectly. </p>

<p>By the way, the same thing could happen with a corporate-sponsored scholarship if it is less than the college-sponsored one at a school that a student chooses.</p>

<p>^ I though the $2500 award can good along with the student wherever he/she ends up going. Are you sure about this?</p>

<p>Yes, the $2500 NMSC scholarship can be used at any college.</p>

<p>I was not saying that the colleges have any control over the $2500. That is completely an NMSC award and, as BobWallace said, can be used at any college. (Same with the corporate-sponsored scholarships.)</p>

<p>What I was trying to say is that any NMF that gets a $2500 award and decides to go to a college that offers a larger NMSC-administered college-sponsored award is at the mercy of the college whether the college will make up any of the difference between their NMSC-administered “college-sponsored” award and the $2500. They will not be able to turn down the $2500 when offered in order to get the larger NMSC college-sponsored award. (I am only talking about the official NMSC-administered part of any NMF package a school might offer.)</p>

<p>Are you saying if NMSC offer the $2500, you cannot accept the school-sponsored scholarship instead if they offer? How about private sponsored ones? That sucks. I know some schools would announce in June.</p>