Yes, you are correct. I just took PSAT 2 weeks ago
If your junior PSAT result, which I think comes out in Dec, is above the selection index in your state, then you should be notified that you are National Merit semi finalist. Then you need to take the SAT if you have not taken it yet to confirm your score and do some other things to apply to become NM finalist.
@mom2collegekids I heard that Alabama was getting rid of some of the engineering scholarships for Class of 2017 and beyond. http://eng.ua.edu/undergraduate/scholarships/ To me it is bad news because that scholarship has helped make the college very affordable for my out of state students. It looks like COE will award some money but in smaller amounts.
It would be worth your time to check out scholarship opportunities at Florida Institute of Technology (locals call it Florida Tech or FIT) in Melbourne, Florida - the Space Coast in Florida. They offer generous scholarships, which is great because they are expensive, but you would have so much access to opportunities in aerospace engineering there (internships and jobs.) Just for that reason alone I think it would be worth your time to get in touch with them.
Their scholarships have been very generous. They are still giving the full tuition scholarship to those with the GPA, ACT and engineering major - the highest level scholarship.
What does that mean @buckeyes "those with the GPA, ACT’. What is the highest level scholarship, Which one would that be here?
http://admission.fit.edu/freshman/university-aid.php
I think @buckeyes was referring to the Alabama scholarships. Florida tech gives some nice merit scholarships, but they do not even cover tuition. The top scholarship is about 25k and tuition is about $38k. There is one full ride (and I heard it is going to two) but that is to a Florida resident.
The FA at Florida Tech has been great and although I’ve pulled out my hair trying to get all the correct paperwork in )the state has a few extra awards and there have been some mix ups), in the end it has been worth it. There are a lot of co-op opportunities and paid internships, so if the student needs to earn money that can be done too. I do think the room and board charges are very high, but if one can get through the first year, living in the community is fairly cheap.
The following colleges have a good Aerospace program with merit scholarship in additional once listed by others. USC, and Wichia State U
Illinois Institute of Technology has aerospace. With your stats you would be a good candidate for their full tuition competitive scholarship.