What a boondoggle. I talked to the freshman admissions rep at Drexel today and she said the school has dropped its full tuition scholarship… HOWEVER, Drexel is blaming a letter they got from National Merit Scholarship Corp. on Oct. 28.
As I talked with the person from Drexel, it seemed to me that they’d gotten a letter taking issue with the use of “National Merit” in the name of the scholarship and in part of the description.
(Not that it matters to most, but Drexel is not an official part of the program and so a student awarded that full-tuition scholarship does not become a National Merit Scholar and technically remains a National Merit Finalist, even after they win the scholarship.)
When I pointed that out to Drexel – that if it’s a wording thing, why don’t they just change the wording – the woman allowed that Drexel did have “choice” in the matter. Huh?
I then followed up with a nice lady at NM headquarters and she said that my impression was correct. NMSC sent a letter asking Drexel to adhere to their trademark and to clarify the status of students who get the award, that they don’t become National Merit Scholars.
It is difficult to fathom what is going on here … whether Drexel felt forced to drop the scholarship or whether they’re trying to place the blame on NMSC.
Lost in the shuffle … the kids and parents who made trips, applications, portfolios, etc., with this scholarship in mind.
UPDATE: woman from NMSC called back. she’s clarified with Drexel that it’s a wording thing and Drexel is free to use the status to award the scholarship, however, when she asked if they were going to reinstate the award, the could not say.