<p>ipopova. I agree it seems to be ridiculously more complicated than it really is. After all…the school and NM scholarships are one time and usually only about $2000-$2500. NOT worth all the hassle, for the most part. I will tell you that MOST seem to think “undecided” is a fine way to go, and that is what my D did. We have the notification card taped to a credenza in our home office…in our face ALL the time. I personally contacted the two schools my D feels she’ll get into, and one of them (our big state uni) didn’t even know they HAD a deadline to designate them (it’s only $1000/year). But they got a supervisor who said it’s something crazy like May 31. Then we contacted NYU too (not much money but a fun “extra” called the Baird Experience where you get to travel with others for very little cost). Likewise, the didn’t really seem to know either…just said “we’re in line with NM’s deadline”. But NM has a bunch of deadlines. So I got a more firm answer from NYU and it was ALSO very late…sometime in May.</p>
<p>So we stopped worrying, will wait for acceptances, and decide THEN what to send in. Not worried about getting one of the $2000 one time scholarships and risking something bigger elsewhere (example, our state uni has a GREAT separate scholarships that gives preference to National Merit, so we want to leave THAT option open). </p>
<p>Congrats and good luck.</p>