<p>I was excited to find a "Welcome to Rochester" envelope in the mail today (arrived by USPS in North Carolina), but am confused as to why it came a month early? I did not apply to any combined-admission programs. I am aware that Renaissance finalists also hear back in late February, and believe as a National Merit Finalist I may be competitive for the Renaissance, but I did not receive any news of merit aid. Do Renaissance scholarship letters arrive separately, or was this month early notification just a fluke? The scholarship would help make attending my first-choice school financially possible, so please help me figure this out! Thanks</p>
<p>MConklin, the U of R rep, has stated in other threads that the decisions that came out this past week were for both applicants to combined degree options and a few other applicants. Scholarship info is sent out separately and should arrive in a week or so.</p>
<p>I would look at this is a positive sign and wait for any scholarship info.</p>
<p>I believe that NM finalists may get notified early because March 1 opens the period during which you will need to list your first choice school in order to be eligible for school-based NM scholarships.</p>
<p>UR gives NMF substantial merit awards, but you need to name UR as your first choice to be eligible.</p>
<p>Thanks WayOutWestMom, that makes sense about NMF and I am grateful for the 1/2 tuition Rochester offers through that
does this mean I should give up hope for the Renaissance?
I guess one cannot get too ambitious</p>
<p>Actually … UR starts sending out acceptances earlier than the typical deadline. They just do. If Mike hadn’t mentioned the first batch was going out, it would be a complete surprise. I gather they get part of the way through the process, have a bunch of decisions and so they send out the acceptances. Why wait? Why not give the kids more time to think about choosing UR. It’s a very nice surprise. I think that is typical of Rochester: they do things their way and they try to be nice.</p>
<p>My Renaissance & Global Scholarship invitation came in a small envelope within my packet of general acceptance today. The Renaissance invite is dated February 22.</p>
<p>Thanks for clarifying everyone, now I won’t need to keep watching the mailbox for the Rens letter. Congrats on your invite keellota!</p>
<p>I think you have until April 27th to name a first choice school.</p>
<p>You can have one named by 3/1 to be in the selection but have until 4/27 to designate a school as first choice-and you can change a designation as well as long as you do it by that date.</p>
<p>Edit to above post-you can change designation but if the school you have designated first choice awards you a NM Scholarship you cannot be offered one by another school-so be very sure NMF’s that whatever school you designate as first choice you really want to attend-especially if other schools you are considering also offer the same if not higher NM awards than UR. Once offered you lose the opportunity to change to another school.</p>
<p>Congrats yaya89… It may interest you to know that National Merit Finalists are awarded a Wilder Scholarship in the amount of $15,000 per year plus $2,000 from National Merit, though you must declare Rochester to be your top choice school. National Merit Finalists are eligible for larger scholarships as well, but, barring unusual circumstances, this is the minimal amount that we usually award.</p>
<p>keellota… Congrats on your Renaissance invitation. I am a member of the Renaissance Committee and can tell you the applicants we considered for the scholarship this year were incredibly impressive. You should be very proud!</p>
<p>congrats to keellota 
i went through my admission packet for a panicked 3 minutes looking for an invite but i got nothing =[ good luck for interviews!</p>