Why the national merit process take so long? Does not make any sense in this digital age!!!
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Anyone know when National Merit finalists will be announced please? Thanks
Finalists are announced in February.
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Thank you.
I thought it was January or maybe thatās when you find out if you arenāt one. One is Jan and one is Feb.
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I read on Reddit that USC has reduced their National Merit scholarship to $20k instead of half tuition (~$35k). Quite a difference.
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Yep, you can see it on their scholarship page.
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Interesting. Wondering if there are any tea leaves to read hereā¦ they want to accept more NMFs than they can afford?
There are a million ways to interpret it. My read is that they feel that $20K off tuition will be enough to lure in the NMF who want to attend. A flat dollar amount takes off some of the other perks that Presidential and Trustee receive.
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A flat dollar amount is tricky, thoughāa half-tuition scholarship builds in partial inflation protection since the amount of the award will go up if tuition does, but with a flat dollar amount the student('s family) has to eat all of any such increase.
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Exactly. From the universityās perspective, thatās great. Iām sure they will evaluate which NMF they can entice with $20K and which they will try to entice by awarding a Presidential (half tuition) scholarship. Note that in order to be eligible for a Presidential or Trustee scholarship, one must have already applied EA.
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Anyone heard from their school principal about having made NMF please? It is supposed to be released to the school today.
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Unfortunately, it was mailed to principals today. They donāt release it digitally. Hopefully in a few days you will hear.
The timeline is here https://nationalmerit.imodules.com/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/merit_r_i_leaflet.pdf?sessionid=980349ff-4301-4912-8d6c-9ffdc478154e&cc=1
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It hurts that my 1470 PSAT (710ELA/760Math) wasnāt even enough for semifinal statusā¦ 1st gen immigrants in California have a pretty hard time because English isnāt our first language!
Does anyone know about scholarships I can apply to with Commended scholar status?
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Honestly, there might be even more scholarships directed at first-generation-college students than at National Merit Finalists. By the way, congratulations on your score ā a 710 in a secondary language is impressive!
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We havenāt heard but didnāt get a rejection letter in January so should be good, right?
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Similar question as above in that we did not get any news in January but really thought the schools would have the letters from National Merit by Friday. If not selected as a finalist how do you find out?
I believe if you are a finalist, there will be a notice in your national merit portal on or around February 10. And I also believe that those who were NOT selected as finalists already received a letter (at least that is what I heard). Itās possible that the school principal has so much on their plate that they just havenāt gotten to it yet.
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Check your portal. The kids were notified there today. D25 made it.
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If s25 is a finalist and is committed to college with a renewable $1k per year national merit scholarship should they go ahead and check box for college-sponsored award? Or do we wait until the corporate-sponsored and NMS awards are determined?