I looked at the list of schools that offer full rides to national merit finalists. My question is whether you have to be admitted to the school first to qualify, or whether admission there is guaranteed by attaining finalist status? I'd assume the former, but it's something I've wondered about.
A college doesn't know you have an interest in attending until you officially apply for admission. On your application, you'll tell them of your NM status.
If you are a NM Finalist, OU and Bama will still accept your application even after May 1st so technically you could say they are admitting you based solely on your NMF status.
If students did all the NM paperwork correctly in the fall of senior year, didn't get into trouble, and made a respectable score on the SAT, they'd know that fall that they're more than likely going to be NMF and should plan accordingly with their apps.
