<p>Twincities: First, most NMSF become finalists, but not all become finalists. Second, last year (and I don’t know if this changed this year), USC gave the presidential scholarship to NMF who wrote down on the National Merit Corp. form that USC is their FIRST CHOICE university. So that you feel more comfortable, I suggest you call USC and ask if there is a deadline prior to the National Merit Corp. deadline for writing down USC as FIRST CHOICE if this is indeed your child’s decision. Also, I strongly suggest that you visit USC again before March 1 and the other university your child is interested in before March 1.
Please keep in mind, when you look at these schools, which school has the better program and which school gives the most AP credits/courses. At USC, it is possible to get a maximum of 32 credits from AP exams depending upon high enough scores. This is important to think about because your child might be able to finish in less than 4 years and save money that way. Also, if your child goes to USC, think about sending him to a community college this summer before starting freshman year for classes which count for course credit (and save a lot of money that way as well). I hear that USC gives a lot of financial aid to those who truly qualify. One other thing to consider is that USC has a strong alumni network which helps particularly in this terrible economy. I hope this helps.</p>