You have said that before, but I looked into it and it is incorrect.
Students who have been accepted into college sponsoring institutions and listed them as 1st on their list are slotted into those immediately upon making Finalist. They pay out more money and you can only get 1 scholarship. NMSC does not want to have a long list of winners turn down their scholarship. The $2500 awards go to those who are not already getting a scholarship elsewhere. The entire ‘decision-making’ process begins in January, but they take the college and corporate awards into account at that time.
I would suggest talking with people on the committee a bit.