@Dave_N “As big MAC chasers, we would like to use the first choice designation as a signal that might help her in any remaining scholarship competitions and admission decisions.”
I don’t think there is any way to leverage the first choice designation for other scholarships other than, if done earlier, may have been used to demonstrate additional interest because the designation of first choice school, if one was selected, is mentioned in the finalist letter. Who knew?
BC also has a 3/1 deadline and they go as far as to say if you aren’t on the list on 3/1 you won’t be considered because they don’t accept updates to the list. This only works for the student who is definitely going and wants a chance at being selected for 1 of the 7 awards of $1K - $2K.
Your D17 still has so many scholarship opportunities you need to receive decisions on to make this an easy decision. If I were in your shoes, I think I would leave the first designation as undecided.
You wrote: “And yes, I know that D’17 can change from her currently undecided to a school and then change again by May 1.” Please be careful with this. Re-read the NOTE on the back of the letter (and also on the NMSC site) about a change in college choice will not be processed and the Finalist cannot be offered another college-sponsored Merit Scholarship award once a college has mailed a scholarship offer to the student.
So if, for example, you were to choose BU and BU mailed the decision mid-March with the national merit offer, you would not then be eligible to change the first choice school and would not receive an offer (college sponsored NM) from any other school.
NMSC letter/ website recommended if you previously reported a school as first choice but are uncertain about it now choose to be “undecided” to prevent being made an offer from a school he or she is uncertain about attending.
@DMV301 When my daughter did her overnight at Rice and stayed with a student in the dorm she brought a sleeping bag, but the school provided an air mattress. Don’t know if this is standard.
@Dolemite You have nothing to lose by sending the email with the NHRP certificate. You will receive a confirmation email with the scholarship director’s contact info and may want to follow up and ask if consideration can still be given for NHR scholarship. Good luck!
Thanks for all the information and opinions! It looks like I have to carefully re-read the note about designating the first choice and our inclination to leave as undecided was correct.
Trying to give back, I will say that at the overnight that D’17 attended, she brought a small sleeping bag.Most everyone brought a sleeping bag and many brought pillows too.
We drove to this first overnight and now it appears that the sleeping bag will never again be as small as it was before opening the first time. It needs to be stuffed into a carry-on bag for a flight for the next trip.
When Dd went to an interview weekend a few weeks ago, the kids slept in their sleeping bags on the floor. Being the mother of 2 Eagle Scouts, I told Dd to text her host and ask if she should bring a bed roll. The response was affirmative. Even the bed roll from their scouting days didn’t do much to soften a tile floor! (I like the weekends where they put us up in Courtyards much better.). (On a different note, I am not sure the host weekend does what colleges think it does. Dd was with girls who were messing around with Tinder. She didn’t have anything in common with her host or her suite mates.)
@DMV301 – my solution to the sleeping bag issue is to order a new lightweight & inexpensive one and have Amazon ship it to my friend’s house where we will be staying before the college overnight. If it does not fit back in the suitcase, then perhaps it can be a blanket for the plane!
Agree with @Dave_N – they never seem to fit back in the sack once opened.
@nw2this —cannot believe the college students gave up their beds! My son hosted a few students his freshman year but the HS students were offered the floor.
Because we were flying cross country, the college provided clean sleeping bags and requested that they bring their own pillow. This was arranged in advance.
D just came back from a scholarship weekend where she stayed with a sophomore in her single. Her host had an air mattress. D took sheets, pillow, and a light blanket.
@srk2017 There is a list of what to bring for the Berkeley sleepover on the Eventbright signup page.
For getting sleeping bags back into their tiny stuff sacks, Google something like: Youtube how to stuff a sleeping bag. Ds17’s sleeping bag will fit easily in an airplane rollaboard carryon.
Popping in from 2016 to say that we managed to crush a sleeping bag into a suitcase but always ended up either borrowing a pillow or purchasing one at whatever school and then donating it to the host student. It is tough especially for interview weekends when they really need good rest and have to sleep on the floor!! Good luck!
Best way to stuff a sleeping bag into the stuff sack is exactly that…stuff it in. No need to try and roll it nicely, and pull the stuff sack over the bag…doesn’t work very well! Start by zipping up the bag, but leaving a bit of the zipper open at the foot part by using the two-way zipper. Then start with stuffing the foot part into the bag, and keep “stuffing” it until you have the entire bag in the stuff sack. Push the last part in, trying to keep zippers out of the way, and draw tight the drawstring. Done!
My D has had a few overnights and she hasn’t had any issue with her sleeping bag in the carry on. I think the biggest issue is the quality of the sleeping bag. A lot of the material inside cheaper sleeping bags isn’t as compressible as higher quality material.
@paveyourpath I actually emailed the scholarship guy yesterday and worked everything out.
The last place S did a sleepover, the school provided the sleeping bag. I will note it wasn’t during a big student weekend, it was something we set up on our own. When D15 went to a scholarship weekend, her host gave up her bed because she was giving up comfort for Lent! S could fit his backpacking sleeping bag in the stuff sack and his camping pillow into his carry on if needed and still have room for clothes and personal items!
DS is going to Berkeley on Saturday, luckily it is driving distance.