<p>I think the deadline last year for the National Merit designation was May 1. My son did the designation after the decisions came in, so I know it was in April. You can change your #1 designation, but the problem is that you forfeit the chance to change it once your then-number 1 school offers you what is technically a NM scholarship. So if TwinCities’ son did the number 1 designation for the March 1 school, it could be “the final answer” if that school awards a scholarship. Sooo, if he thinks USC is the likely #1, he should perhaps wait. </p>
<p>As far as being able to sign up for an explore USC session, I recall that last year the scholarship interviews happened on certain dates, and you could tell if you were presidential or trustee based on the dates that were offered. But it didn’t necessarily say it was for trustee or presidential - you had to look somewhere else to get the dates for each. So if the website is offering some dates, I wouldn’t rule out the chance your S is being offered an interview. It would be unusual to receive acceptance this early without being in the running for a big scholarship.</p>
<p>Here’s what I found for Explore USC dates for this year (on the Viterbi website, which recruits kids to host visitors):</p>
<p>Scholarship Finalists (all overnight programs)
Monday - February 23
Thursday - February 26
Monday - March 2
Thursday - March 5
Monday - March 9</p>
<p>All Admits
Thursday - April 2
Monday - April 6
Monday - April 13
Thursday - April 16
Monday - April 20
Thursday - April 23</p>
<p>If it’s like last year, the first two dates will be for Trustee, and the next three for Presidential. So which dates are being offered to your son, TwinCities?</p>