<p>School,
I have pasted the following from the National Merit site:
REPORT OF A SPONSOR COLLEGE AS FIRST CHOICE
Consideration for a college-sponsored Merit Scholarship award is limited to Semifinalists who qualify as Finalists and who also:
1. report to NMSC that a sponsor college is their first choice (see the list of college sponsors enclosed with your materials);
2. have applied for admission to the sponsor college; and
3. have not been offered any Merit Scholarship award (corporate-sponsored, National, or another collegesponsored 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 financing it and therefore is
canceled if the winner changes college choice.
The following schedule relates specifically to college-sponsored awards:
March 1 through May 31, 2005: A Finalist who has reported a sponsor college as first choice by March 1 will be included in the first group referred to that institution for scholarship consideration. Periodically NMSC will notify sponsors of additional Finalists who have reported (by May 31) the college or university
as their first choice.
NOTE: If NMSC receives notification of a change in college choice from a Finalist after mailing a college-sponsored Merit Scholarship offer to that student, the Finalist cannot be offered another college-sponsored Merit Scholarship award. This applies even if the new choice of college is one that also sponsors Merit Scholarship awards. Therefore, a Finalist who has
previously reported a sponsor college as first choice but is uncertain about it may choose to notify NMSC that he/she is now undecided; such notification must be received at NMSC, via mail or fax (847-866-5113), before April 20. The Finalist can subsequently report a firm college
choice that NMSC receives by May 31.
April 20, 2005: NMSC will begin mailing college-sponsored Merit Scholarship offers.
May 31, 2005: Deadline date for NMSC to receive reports of a sponsor college as first choice. Because it
is necessary to end the competition in a timely manner, only college choice reports that NMSC receives by
May 31 will be used to identify the final group of candidates to a college or university that sponsors awards.</p>