<p>His PSAT was 225; that’s high enough to go NMSF but I’m unclear on what it takes to actually get merit money.</p>
<p>Well, it depends on where he applies.</p>
<p>If he applies to schools that give merit to all NMFs, then if he becomes a NMF, then he’ll get those merit scholarships.</p>
<p>UCs don’t have NMF scholarships.</p>
<p>USC gives half tuition merit scholarships to accepted NMFs (however, being a NMF is not an auto acceptance to the school) </p>
<p>There are some schools that give big merit, but for ACT or SAT scores and strong GPAs. Some are “assured merit scholarships” (if you have the stats, you get the merit)…and some have competitive merit scholarships (if you have certain stats, you’re put into a pool and then the school picks some students to award the merit scholarships.)</p>