<p>You are correct in that you will not know for certain until Sep. If his score is at the cutoff or higher, he is a semifinalist; one of approximately 16,000. During Sep and until the deadline in Oct, if he is indeed a semifinalist, he will create a portal at NMSC (all directions will be provided) and will populate some info regarding himself. His school will also have to file some paperwork on his behalf. From this they will determine if he makes finalist; one of approximately 15,000. Scholarships through NMSC (“official awards”) are of three varieties for which he can only receive one of any type, but are small relative to awards he can receive direct from certain schools (“unofficial awards”) who offer them because they wan’t to attract finalists to their student body. Please read up on threads here regarding these large awards, especially BobWallace’s posts. One good hour of reading and you will understand. Also read everything that NMSC publishes at their web site.</p>