National Merit Finalist vs National Merit Scholar

mom2collegekids
Sat, 23 Jan 2016 04:46:26 +0000

No one is breaking their rules. You just don’t seem to understand how it all works.

School A offers a big NMF award

Free tuition
Free housing
$1000 per year <<=== that portion would be the “official NMF award processed by NMCorp”

John Doe is an NMF whose parent works for a company that offers an official NMF award of 2500 per year processed by NMCorp

John Doe chooses to attend School A.

NMCorp contacts John Doe because he’s chosen School A as his “First Choice School,” but his parent’s employer wants to give him $2500 per year. NMCorp wants John Doe to get the most money possible, so advises him to decline the “official $1000 per year from School A,” and accept the “official $2500 per year from the corporation”

So John Doe ends up getting:

Free tuition
Free housing …which are the unofficial part of the School A’s NMF award
$2500 per year…which is the official Corporate award

John Doe gets $1500 more per year this way.

John Doe is named one of the 7400 Nationa Merit Scholars and receives by mail his certificate from NMCorp.