Class of 2024 National Merit Discussion

Paying for College National Merit Scholarship
521

My son just received his first official college communication addressed to National Merit Finalists. It finally feels real!

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522

That’s great. Who was it from?

523

I have debated if this is worthy of an update and I think not. The overwhelming majority of SF become finalists.

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524

University of Alabama.

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525

When are corporate scholarships released? My '24 should be getting one.

526

Thank you! D24 checked the portal and found she is a finalist too. She can put that in one of the college deferral application as an update.

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527

Thank you. The college process is new to us and appreciate the guidance.

528

I agree that you can/should include in a deferral or WL update.

529

What schools are you looking at? Many students send an email to their admissions officer notifying them of updates such as this. For schools that track demonstrated interest, it doesn’t hurt.

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530

NMSC begins offering corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards on March 13.

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531

How do you find the name/email of the admissions officer?

532

Most schools have it listed on their website. For example, at USC, https://admission.usc.edu/prospective-students/meet-us/admission-counselors/

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533

Yes, years ago NMF was guaranteed full tuition at NEU and then reduced to $30k and more recently just a competitive award. I have seen it recently reported as up to $15k but usually just $5k added to whatever had been given upon admission. They have stated that they are focusing more on need based aid in recent years rather than merit/tests. NMF can also just replace other types of merit aid given with a couple thousand extra
 it is not meant to stack on other merit scholarships.

534

U Mich was pretty explicit that you can do a continued interest letter once. My D24 was asked to do that (even though RD) and did so a few weeks ago. Does that mean she can’t update them with this info about NMSF?

535

S24 got NMF letter yesterday. His #1 choice is Michigan he was deferred (idk his #2) My question: should he tell colleges he’s still waiting for RD decisions about NMF?

536

Hello,
We are in similar boat this year. D24 is NMF. She got an initial offer NEU grant money + scholarship for EA this year(which brings it on par with other colleges of interest to us). We asked the admissions officer during a visit if that aid money can go up(if so by how much) if we change the NM school to NEU by May 1. We did not get a direct answer. but were told that if we mark NEU as first choice school, we will be given update on any further grant. It would be nice if they are clear about this. i.e
 in the scholarship section, NEU can say - if NMF student declares NEU as top choice - we offer $$ grant/scholarship. This looks like a play to force students to declare a college as top choice without knowing the benefits beforehand.

537

Does anyone have thoughts about updating schools that give NMF scholarships that S24 is a finalist? Would this possibly help to let them know as if they give the scholarship they obviously at least care a little bit? And might put kid on the radar? And kid can also say they ID’d a particular school as their first choice? BU has a deadline of 3/1, so time is of the essence with that one.
Thx! I wish this whole process was more transparent.

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538

In my opinion, if a school has an open door for application updates, it doesn’t hurt to notify them. If nothing else, it shows some level of continued interest.

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539

Hi all! Did any of your kids get the NMF letter from their high school? We saw the letter on her portal when it was released, but our school has yet to say anything. Just curious. Also, anyone here from Florida? I have questions about the Benacquisto (full ride) scholarship- is it guaranteed to FL students who put UF as their first choice even if they don’t get the $2500 scholar award? She is leaving it undecided on her portal for now until all her decisions come in. But we are wondering if she eventually puts UF as her first choice (by May 1) if a full ride is a sure thing. According to the website, she needs to be a NM “scholar” or get a corporate or college sponsored award in order to get Benacquisto. Does that mean it is possible she could get none of those and thus not get Benacquisto, or does UF automatically give all their NMF’s who choose them their college- sponsored award thus qualifying them for Benacquisto? If anyone knows about this, thank you in advance. I’ll probably call UF this week if I can’t find a definite answer.

540

I believe what you get from the school is the actual certificate, but you have everything you need.

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