You are correct about what has happened historically. I’ll admit that I’m not scouring all social media for posts about NM, but usually we see a couple of posts on CC from people who did not make NMF. That notification is usually a few weeks before the Finalist announcement.
So, @Man_God, if you did not receive notification that you are not moving forward to NMF, that is a good sign.
From info I have seen on Reddit and other places, the rejection letters went out on January 11/12. I will believe it when I see the confirmation but it appears, 4 weeks on, no news is good news.
My son’s friend heard a few weeks ago that he didn’t advance. So I think no news is good news.
Does anyone happen to know… if the school/principal doesn’t give a student the Finalist certificate/letter, will NM issue a new one directly to the student? I’m assuming my daughter’s was tossed in the trash or it’s in a pile on someone’s desk. It’s something she would like to have. Thanks!
They have in the past. Give it time. Your school might not celebrate her success, but that doesn’t mean they will toss her certificate.
I called. Rejection letters went out Jan 12, so no news is good news.
I asked if they could tell me if a rejection letter was sent to us, they confirmed one was not. So that was nice.
He then said to have my son check his portal Monday.
He also said the letter WILL NOT be in the parent portal.
Welcome to College Confidential and thank you for sharing what they told you over the phone.
If that is your real name, I suggest that you change it to something more anonymous.
Just basing my hunch on past history, unfortunately. Good to know we likely can get a reissued certificate if needed.
Finalist letters are posted in the student portal. 
Yes, finally! There has been no sign of the certificate by snail mail, though (we homeschool). I have a question: Why does NMS let students pick a first-choice college that is not a sponsor? And what are the criteria for them to award the national scholarship?
Thanks for posting the availability of the letters. D24 confirmed that she is a finalist! Now we wait for March 21 I guess.
What happens on March 21st? Congratulations to your D24!
For the benefit of future searches on the subject, 2024 National Merit Finalist letters were posted in the OSA Student Portal on Monday morning 2/12/24.
My daughter was accepted to NEU EA last year. She did not have NEU listed as her school with NM. So she received a different scholarship and was told that if she changed her NM school to NEU by May 1, she would receive more money on top of that (with no indication of how much…antidotal evidence says they add $5000 on top of what you already received, but I don’t speak from experience) She did not end up going to NEU, so I’m not sure how it would have played out.
She ended up not applying to BU, but if she was going to, she would have listed them as the NM school before March 1 and then changed to USC or NEU if she decided on either of them.
Since many of us are waiting for admissions decisions, do you think adding (or not adding) a school impacts your admission chances. NMSC only reports to the first choice school listed in your profile. Since schools factor in yield in their decisions, do you think adding a certain school (even if they don’t offer $$ for NMF) increases your chances for admissions since you are more likely to attend if accepted? Conversely, do you think not adding a certain school as your top choice hurts your chances for admission since that school might think you would not attend even if accepted?
We are pondering this too, although I think son is thinking it doesn’t matter TOO much. Curious to see if anyone with more experience chimes in!
Congrats to all the finalists! So nice to see a genuine smile on my kid’s face for the first time in 2024. Senior year is really kicking his butt.
Actually, they were posted Sunday night–we checked at 10pm (West Coast) on Sunday night and the finalist letter was there. So I’m guessing once the clock turned midnight on the East Coast, the letters were released.
For USC, it doesn’t matter.
March 21 is when National Merit Scholarships are supposed to be communicated to the 2500 recipients. This is not inclusive of corporate or college sponsored awards.
What is an appreciated/respectful manner by colleges to update them about finalist status? Would uploading it on the college portal in a word document be a good way or perhaps there is a more preferred way? Thank you in advance.