@DavidPudry,
the 8500 Finalists who did NOT receive NM scholarships are those who 1] enrolled at colleges that DONT sponsor National Merit Scholarship Corporation, or do not have parents who work for companies that sponsor NMSC [ in other words- they dont send $$ to NM]
OR- 2] they were NOT given one of the special $2500 one time awards from NMSC, that are awarded regardless of the college the student enrolls in .
Here is a link to NMSC and instructions that you should follow–
http://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/start.aspx?gid=2&pgid=61
find the box labelled" for sponsors">
2015-2016 annual report> download and scroll down to
pages 10-15 , which shows the list of colleges and companies that support NNSC and the # of sponsored scholarships awarded that year. BUT if you scroll down to pages 15-16, you will see where those scholars ACTUALLY enrolled and see colleges such as HYPS listed, but with no * next to the number of scholars attending.
The 2400 students at HYPS [and assorted other colleges] without the * were winners of one time $2500 scholarships.
Students who DO enroll at NMSC sponsoring colleges WILL receive NM awards- which can be VERY generous. That is why we are encouraging you to look closely at those colleges.