<p>My recollection is that the official NM Scholars were chosen from those that did NOT get a corporate or college scholarship. My son received additional scholarship from his college once he made it his top choice for National Merit. It was confusing because some schools say you have to do this by Feb 1, but I know we did it at the end of March once the aid packages from his choices were known. He still got the money. He was not initially listed as a National Merit Scholar because he didn’t get the $2500, but his college award is for all four years and worth a lot more than that.</p>