<p>Yes, it seems like naming NEU in March if they’re still in the running, then changing later if needed is the “right” strategy.</p>
<p>NEU’s award will be reduced slightly if you get the $2500 NM award, in some cases resulting in a small net loss of funds, or in some cases resulting in a small net gain. It all depends how they have structured their official national merit award (which I don’t know). </p>
<p>If the NEU award is $1K/year official NM award, and 29K/year NEU scholarship that they happen to give to NMFs, then the worst case is that you’d get 2500 + 29K the first year, but only 29K each of the other years, for a net loss. Some schools will let you take the 2500 + 29K the first year and then still give you the extra 1K in the other 3 years, so you’d get extra the first year, and the same amount in subsequent years. I think the maximum that the official portion of the award can be is $2K/year. </p>
<p>I don’t know if it’s possible to decline the $2500 award if you are definitely taking an award from a school where you would have a net loss by getting the $2500. And you need to definitely talk to the school about whether they’ll make up the difference in the subsequent years if you get the 2500 the first year.</p>