<p>With regard to selecting your first-chioce college, my son was told to put down “undecided” on his NMSF application. He then has until sometime in April (or May?) to inform NMSC where he plans to attend and name that his first choice school. It appears that most schools will offer you their National Merit scholarship contingent upon you selecting them by that deadline. But that may not be true for all schools, so you will want to check how it works for the schools you are applying to.</p>