Which National Merit Scholarship gets priority if all 3 types are possible?

SCNomad
Wed, 18 Feb 2015 13:32:20 +0000

So from the congratulations letter, we all read that Finalists can only be selected for one of the scholarship awards. The three types are:
• National Merit® $2500 Scholarships
• Corporate-sponsored scholarships
• College-sponsored scholarships

So if our DC is technically in the running for all three (everyone is considered for the first, my company sponsors a corporate version and my D has applied to a university that offers a NMF scholarship) which one gets the priority? It appears that the general National Merit is determined first, but that is only a one-time payment of $2500. What I don’t understand, and am hoping I am interpreting incorrectly, is that the University scholarship would then not be available.

Please tell me I am confused and looking at it incorrectly. Would someone really miss out on a fully funded scholarship at OU or Bama because they got a one-time award of $2500 from the NMSC? Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere, but I had never read that “only win one” statement in the Finalist letter before.