vivalariva

I got a letter in the mail today stating that I am a national merit finalist. However, Yale, my first choice school, is not on the list of College Sponsors. In other words, Yale is not "expected to offer Merit Scholarship awards in 2008 for Finalists who will attend the sponsor institution." The letter also states that "a few additional colleges may make arrangemetns with NMSC to sponsor scholarships in 2008." I am wondering how much of an impact naming Yale as my first choice college would have on my admissions decision (I was deferred EA). Would it be wiser to name a college that is actually sponsoring scholarships, such as Pomona (which is 4th on my list behind Yale, Brown, and Amherst)? Or should I name Brown or Amherst because I may have a better chance of admissions there than at Yale - one of my classmates was accepted EA at Yale and they usually only accept one from our school. I am open to all advice/opinions. Thanks!

icy9ff8

My opinion is that naming Yale as your first choice school for NMS purposes will not help your application at Yale, but it could hurt your chances for a NMS at the other sponsoring colleges & universities as most require that they be listed as your "first choice school" in order to qualify for their non-binding NMS award. To the best of my knowledge, Yale does not have any quotas for acceptances from a particular high school, and, if they do, it certainly would not be limited to one or two students. Some elite schools may have quotas, but it would more likely be in the nature of refusing to accept more than ten (10%) percent or so of a class from an elite school such as Virginia's Thomas Jefferson School for the Sciences, Andover, Exeter, St. Paul's School, etc.

AY8888

I put Harvard as my number one choice . Oh well. If you're set on applying to an Ivy, I don't really think you should care whether your first choice school gives NMS money because none of them do. If you want money, name non-ivies as your first choice as good backups.

AY8888

I don't think HYP cares whether or not you are a finalist that much. I sent in an update to Yale and they didn't really care {got likely letter and call before notification for finalist}. I'm Coca-cola finalist though which might stand out. Best of luck to you with your application.

phurley93

I was admitted EA and I plan on keeping it as Yale because that is the only way to get one of the random $2500 ones from NMSC right?

AY8888

the 2,500 that !!!NMS!!! gives out can be used for any college. the money that the OP was referring to was extra merit money from college because you are a finalist.

Vango

AY8888 -

You wrote, "I sent an update to Yale and they didn't really care," regarding updating them about NMF status. I'm curious, what do you mean by "they didn't really care?" Did they contact you afterwards to tell you that?

Hunt

Since Yale doesn't give NM merit scholarships, how would Yale find out that you listed it as your first choice? Even more importantly, would it find out that you didn't list it?

burnitblue

Also, for schools that give hefty scholarships to NMFs (such as USC), even though they aren't someone's first choice, would listing them as such to get a full scholarship hurt their applications to other schools?

neumes

This "first choice" stuff confuses the heck out of me, even after lots of reading. But unless I am mistaken, there is absolutely no point in putting down Yale for first choice because Yale is not, as the OP said one of the colleges that sponsor scholarships for National Merit Finalists (I believe those scholarships run between $500 and $2000). And, if I am not mistaken, a number of colleges--such as USC--give scholarships to National Merit Finalists outside of the official sponsorship scholarships. E.g., BU selects some of its NMFs for a half-tuition scholarship BUT to be eligible, you have to list BU as first-choice college--by MARCH 1. Say you don't get into BU or don't get that scholarship, you have until May 31st to indicate another first choice. But don't list Yale as first-choice because they don't participate! They may not even care if you are a finalist because 94% of semi-finalists become finalists. However, I can't see how it would be bad to send Yale a quick note that you became a finalist. Shows you care. Just don't indicate them as your first choice unless you have not applied to any colleges that are part of the NMSC program. (sorry for repeating myself)

If you were to go from being one of the 15,000 Finalists to one of the 2,000 Scholars who are each offered a 2,500 scholarship from the National Merit folks, it is, as AY888 says, like a blank check (but not written out to you! To the college you will be attending). You do not need to have Yale as your first choice to get that.

I have no idea about whether or not you can get the 2,500 and still get a big scholarship for being a NMF (I mean a scholarship that's outside the jurisdiction of the NMF. I would call each college to ask. There are all sorts of other questions to ask, too, such as which is better/first: a corporate-sponsored NMSC scholarship or a college-sponsored one? It is not clear to me, even after reading innumerable threads on CC about it). Here is my wish: that the NMSC would rewrite their instructions in the form of scenarios: what ifs. And step by step. I read their instructions and shake my head...wha....? I have heard that the people who answer the phone are very helpful, but I haven't called, despite my kvetching. So don't be like me, call them.

On the other hand, the payback for doing well on a 2-hour test (is that how long the PSAT is?) and for a not-too-huge commitment to writing an essay and filling out some other stuff and not muffing your grades or SAT, is probably getting anywhere from $500 to a full ride--not a bad deal. Thanks, National Merit! Just please rewrite your instructions!

BTW, you still have until March 1 to change your first-choice college for the first round of scholarship picking. CALL YOUR COLLEGES to find out their protocol. If you don't have that yellow card (you probably do, buried somewhere!) go to google and type in NMSC and "first-choice college" and you will find a link to the pdf to print out, with another yellow card on it (found this because somehow we couldn't find the link on the NMSC website and of course after locating this pdf, the original yellow card shook itself loose from the stacks of paper in son's room). (On that same google search results you will also see links to a million people asking, "If Ivy-League-School-That-Isn't-An-NMSC sponsor is my first choice, should I list that on my college choice card?", some on this very site....An indication that the instructions are not clear. But perhaps on purpose?)

If I am wrong, tell me now so I can edit!

rainmama

Excellent explanation, neumes! NMSC turns this into a weird gambling scenario. If you list a first choice now, and that school awards you a scholarship, you lose it if you decide to attend another school, even if it's one that also participates. To me, that counsels waiting to choose #1. But what I'm unsure of is what happens if you wait until admissions decisions are in before listing a first choice? Are you then out of the running for college-sponsored NM awards? Or the NMSC-paid award? Some of the colleges on my S's list sponsor awards, but not too many of them, so it would be a shame to lose out if there's some sort of priority based on early selection of the first-choice school.

It's too bad NMSC doesn't just hold off until April 1, when students could make an informed decision about which school to list. And I agree they should revise their instructions!

Patrice

Students can give the National Merit people "undecided" as a first choice and then name a sponsoring university later. I feel confident that NMC awards its scholarships without regard to the university listed as first choice. My son named "undecided" as his first choice and then changed it in March after he asked for and received written scholarship offers from two state universities. Since these offers were contingent upon his naming each of them as his first choice, he made his decision and then sent an update card to NMC naming the university he had chosen. NMC forwarded the information to the winning university a couple of weeks later. I believe that students have until the end of April to name a first choice university after listing "undecided" as a first choice. There is no advantage to listing a non-participating university as your first choice.

BarberShop

I dunno much details about this program, but I listed Yale as my top choice (I was admitted EA), and I received a letter some time ago that I will receive 2500 dollars. So I guess it's fine if you put Yale(?).

50isthenew40

My daughter never sent in the card because the schools she was interested in don't give awards. Now she has chosen Yale. Is there any reason to do the card now? If she hasn't heard anything yet about a $2500 award from Natl. Merit, that means she is not getting that, right?
I thought I was clear on this, but now I'm having some doubts. She was still considered for the 2500$ award even without submitting the card, wasn't she? Thanks!

Midaji

^By card, I'm assuming you mean the yellow postcard? I believe that card has expired at this point.

The scholarships should have already be given out...although it could be lost in the mail. A letter is sent to your HS too. I thought I didn't become a finalist, because I didn't hear anything after semis. And then the money dropped into my lap. The scholarship envelope comes with an extra form that allows you to state which college to write the check to (this essentially replaces the yellow card from before).