<p>I appreciated the story cited by Dean J because it confirmed awareness of the limitations of the NM program beyond cc! But I object to the implication of the title (Scholarship Sweepstakes
National Merit program offers millions in scholarship dollars without regard to financial need) because it implies some moral judgement (or just an editorial bias) against offering recognition based on fairly transparent criteria (published cutoffs and materials reinforcing that achievement). While there may be some inequity based on timing, geography, and the like, I don’t think there is anything intrinsically wrong with recognizing the potential of the finalists. How individual schools do or don’t take it into account is up to them.</p>