<p>I’ve noticed that for some national merit scholarships you need to list that school as your first choice. For example</p>
<p>“In order to receive and renew your scholarship, you must: List UA as your first school of choice with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation to receive the National Merit Finalist Award”</p>
<p>That is for the university of arizona, which is the city i live in. does that mean that i need to put down the u of a for the top school for my college plans reporting service thing that i got for being at least a commended scholar? the dealine for listing two schools is fast approaching, and i would really appreciate some feedback. thanks!</p>
<p>From what I understand, yes, that is what that means. The school wants to give that scholarship to someone who is likely to attend. If it is NOT one of your top 2 choices, don’t list it, since I don’t think you will be considered for other national merit scholarships if you are awarded one from a school. I may be wrong about this - it has been many years…</p>
<p>It wouldn’t hurt to indicate that U of Arizona is one of your two early favorites but the requirement you quoted is that you list them as your first choice when you are actually a finalist. You can do that when you submit your paperwork to advance from semi-finalist to finalist or you can mark undecided at that time and notify them later when you have decided. Usually you don’t have to make that choice final until April of your senior year but a few schools have earlier deadlines (like February) so do check with UA on that.</p>