National Merit $2500 Award

mazewanderer
Thu, 06 May 2010 10:35:44 +0000

To clarify again: There are three categories of sponsors of NMSC scholarships. First is 2500 scholarships from NMSC for $2500 i.e. NMSC themselves. Second is corporations and some non profits who mainly (but not all the time) give it to children of employees. The third is a college themselves i.e. colleges sponsor NMSC scholarships and some are very generous like University of Alabama, while others like University of Chicago are not.

The first two scholarship types can be used in any accredited college. So you can take either the NMSC or corporate scholarship and use it Chico State or Yale for example, there are no restrictions as long as the college is accredited and accepted by NMSC. The third category is for a specific college scholarship. Arizona State is not going to give you a scholarship to study at University of Alabama and so on. If you get a college sponsored scholarship, you have to go that college.

In TP971011’s case, he did not get the NMSC scholarship (which only about 16% of the NMF finalists get and is divided in a way that every state gets some winners, so a student from one state may not get it but another student with the same profile may get it in another state). He may not have been eligible for a corporate scholarship as his parents do not work for one of those corporations. And Cornell does not sponsor any college NM scholarships and hence he did not get anything for the college.

Everyone has to realize that NM scholarships do not depend just on your national standing but on other factors like your parents employer’s and the school you choose. So if you did not get a scholarship, it is not a reflection about your performance. You are still a NMF and that does not go away. You are still a winner.