It is prestigious. However, it also has no bearing on college admissions because the nomination and application process only begins after your college applications are submitted. It is still worth a try. I know a number of students who were nominated and I even know one who got it. But I wouldn’t try to up my SAT score for the minute chance of getting this award. Especially if you are from a state where the national merit qualifying score is high, like CA or TX, you might need near perfect scores (1580+) to get a nomination.