National Merit Scholarship Program

[North of Mouse]

PSAT scores are out for the High School class of 2018. Does anyone here have a family member or friend who qualified as a semi-finalist? Did they make it to the finalist stage, and if so, what kind of scholarships did they earn. I think my son is in the running based on his score in our state, and anticipate he will need to get an application packet together. I don't have a lot of confidence in his school counselor.

Yes, our son was a finalist several years ago, and he got letters from 4 different states and universities. He chose the one he preferred, and was given a 'full' ride. Every incidental was covered - special honor's dorm, etc. It was great! We (his parents) were also treated royally, free lodging nights and meals.

Also, to pp - not sure where you are getting your info on grading, but it was indeed 'national' tests, scoring, etc. My ds was one of two finalists in his school. 'Everything' was through his school. The Scholarship amounts varied with the universities, but the ones he was offered were all 'full ride' at those schools.

Good luck!!

 

[DisneyOma]

Based on our experience there is no such thing as a "merit scholarship". They almost all take income into account somewhere along the way.

Both of my daughters got pure merit scholarships - scholarship money that took care of what we had to pay OOP. $12K and $20K scholarships were very, very helpful.

Yes, our son was a finalist a few years ago, and he got letters from 4 different states and universities. He chose the one he preferred, and was given a 'full' ride. Every incidental was covered - special honor's dorm, etc. It was great! We (his parents) were also treated royally, free lodging nights and meals.

Also, to pp - not sure where you are getting your info on grading, but it was indeed 'national' tests, scoring, etc. My ds was one of two finalists in his school. 'Everything' was through his school. The Scholarship amounts varied with the universities, but the ones he was offered were all 'full ride' at those schools.

Good luck!!

The PSAT is a standard test given across the nation, but the awarding of the national Merit Scholarships are not. Each state is given a different set of standards.

http://collegeadmissions.testmasters.com/psat-scores-cut-national-merit-2016/

 

[clori]

My nephew attends Brown. I believe he was only commended on the PSAT for his state (MA) so no financial help but Brown is only financial need so he goes for close to free for tuition, room, and board.

I think what the poster may have meant about it not being a true national test is that the cutoff scores for the test vary per state so a person commended in one state may have a higher score than a semi finalist in another state.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Some of the more competitive schools that are fully endowed won't give you anything for a national merit ship or any merit ship or any other outside ship. Instead, they figure out how much you can pay and charge you that. Period. No ifs, no ands, and no buts and any outside money you bring in, will not result in any less out of pocket. And if you don't like that, there are thousands of people on their waiting list. Other schools that are a bit less competitive and/or are not fully endowed will aggressively pursue national merit scholarship students. And still other schools will give a student a free ride just for doing well enough to make the finals or semis. I get a kick out of schools saying we get more merit scholars than school X. Well of course you do. School X doesn't give any. HAHA.

 

[AustinTink]

My son's school had 18 National Merit recipients in 2016. In their class of 100 kids, there were 8 commended and 8 finalists. There were also 4 National Hispanic Scholars. From what I am hearing right now, the finalists all received full rides from state schools like Texas A&M. Commended and National Hispanic Scholars received half tuition scholarships. Other schools in the state followed suit, although our flagship, UT, does not automatically guarantee merit scholarships to National Merit recipients.

As far as Ivies go, three of our finalists applied to Yale and all got in. They were each offered merit aid to the tune of about 16k a year. Not a lot.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Based on our experience there is no such thing as a "merit scholarship". They almost all take income into account somewhere along the way.

Not here in MO.

My dd's friends had a lot of merit scholarships. It really depends on location and schools you go to.

IIRC the National Merit kids got 500 bucks or something like that. It was not a huge amount. Of course they also went to a college that gave out free ride merit scholarships that also provided a 4,000 stipend and include other perks, like free study abroad and other stuff.

Basically being a semi or finalist can get your foot in the door to get a "full ride" merit scholarship from the school.

My dd has 3 merit scholarships at the college she goes to. 2 from the college and 1 from the state of MO.

 

[okeydokey]

Yes, our son was a finalist several years ago, and he got letters from 4 different states and universities. He chose the one he preferred, and was given a 'full' ride. Every incidental was covered - special honor's dorm, etc. It was great! We (his parents) were also treated royally, free lodging nights and meals.

Also, to pp - not sure where you are getting your info on grading, but it was indeed 'national' tests, scoring, etc. My ds was one of two finalists in his school. 'Everything' was through his school. The Scholarship amounts varied with the universities, but the ones he was offered were all 'full ride' at those schools.

Good luck!!

Had he applied to those 4 Universities or did they reach out to you. Congrats to your son, how awesome!

 

[North of Mouse]

Had he applied to those 4 Universities or did they reach out to you. Congrats to your son, how awesome!

Thanks! They all sent letters with congratulations and invitations - we had no contact with them beforehand. I just suppose the lists of finalists were sent out to selected universities, but really don't know.

 

[WVMomof3]

I guess I should investigate this more, but now I am wondering on the timeline. If they don't tell you till September of Senior year if you are a semifinalist, when do they announce the winners? It seems like you would already be done with college search since someone had said they don't know yet, but aren't most applications already done? You can't even put it on your applications?

 

[North of Mouse]

Based on our experience there is no such thing as a "merit scholarship". They almost all take income into account somewhere along the way.

Actually, there is!! No income info requested or required. We filled out '0' papers! There are different merit scholarships, but only 'one' National Merit Scholarship program. Universities are usually desirous of N. Merit Scholars as several of them go on to be Rhodes Scholars and are an asset to the U. they attended.

 

[Southernmiss]

I guess I should investigate this more, but now I am wondering on the timeline. If they don't tell you till September of Senior year if you are a semifinalist, when do they announce the winners? It seems like you would already be done with college search since someone had said they don't know yet, but aren't most applications already done? You can't even put it on your applications?

I guess I should investigate this more, but now I am wondering on the timeline. If they don't tell you till September of Senior year if you are a semifinalist, when do they announce the winners? It seems like you would already be done with college search since someone had said they don't know yet, but aren't most applications already done? You can't even put it on your applications?

Before ds knew for sure he was a semifinalist, he was receiving (unsolicited) college mail congratulating him on his high psat score and encouraging him to look at their schools.

Once he was named a semifinalist, the in state schools he had already applied to, sent him scholarship offer letters based on his score. He had to declare pretty quickly his college of choice and accept or decline the offers.

He is now done with college applications and acceptances. He knows his NMSF scholarship amount and is waiting to see if the school offers additional merit aid to him from other scholarships at the school. He has enough for most expenses now, but we expect to still pay a little out of pocket unless other scholarships come through.

 

[Poohforyou]

Yes, our son was a finalist several years ago, and he got letters from 4 different states and universities. He chose the one he preferred, and was given a 'full' ride. Every incidental was covered - special honor's dorm, etc. It was great! We (his parents) were also treated royally, free lodging nights and meals.

Also, to pp - not sure where you are getting your info on grading, but it was indeed 'national' tests, scoring, etc. My ds was one of two finalists in his school. 'Everything' was through his school. The Scholarship amounts varied with the universities, but the ones he was offered were all 'full ride' at those schools.

Good luck!!

The point people are making is that every state has a cutoff score where kids are designated semi finalists. So, it's national to pick the initial 50,000 students but the 16,000 or so that are designated semi finalists are on a state level.

For example, my daughter scored a 220 in 2015. The NJ cutoff to be named a semi finalist was 224. Therefore, my dd didn't go beyond commended scholar. However, she would have in almost every other state.

As for merit scholarships, my daughter has gotten one from the 2 schools she got accepted to so far. All the schools she applied to required fafsa and css to be considered for merit scholarships.

 

[DisneyOma]

Some of the more competitive schools that are fully endowed won't give you anything for a national merit ship or any merit ship or any other outside ship. Instead, they figure out how much you can pay and charge you that. Period. No ifs, no ands, and no buts and any outside money you bring in, will not result in any less out of pocket. And if you don't like that, there are thousands of people on their waiting list. Other schools that are a bit less competitive and/or are not fully endowed will aggressively pursue national merit scholarship students. And still other schools will give a student a free ride just for doing well enough to make the finals or semis. I get a kick out of schools saying we get more merit scholars than school X. Well of course you do. School X doesn't give any. HAHA.

Gee, MIT took my daughter's merit scholarship money out of our part of the deal - and they have a 7.9% acceptance rate for 2016. They are so endowed (like Dolly Parton endowed ) that they don't even do loans as part of the financial package. Between the merit scholarships and the MIT grant it cost less for her to go there than a state university.

 

[North of Mouse]

As for merit scholarships, my daughter has gotten one from the 2 schools she got accepted to so far. All the schools she applied to required fafsa and css to be considered for merit scholarships.

Not sure what you think this has to do with what I posted.

The National Merit Scholarship that my ds received had absolutely nothing to do with need base, or any other financial consideration. The universities that invited him to attend were never contacted by us, or applied to, before the invitations.

 

[Poohforyou]

Not sure what you think this has to do with what I posted.

The National Merit Scholarship that my ds received had absolutely nothing to do with need base, or any other financial consideration.

I never said it did, I was just pointing out that the schools my daughter applied to required fafsa and css for merit scholarship consideration. Dd doesn't qualify for need based aid so we wouldn't have bothered filing either but we wanted her to be eligible for merit scholarships.

She got a nice dean's scholarship from 1 school and a presidents scholarship from the other. However when tuition & room/board range from $40,000-65,000 it still leaves a lot that we need to cover.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

As for merit scholarships, my daughter has gotten one from the 2 schools she got accepted to so far. All the schools she applied to required fafsa and css to be considered for merit scholarships.

If the school accepts federal money, they are going to ask for those forms because they have to keep them on file for students getting any kind if aid. That doesn't mean those numbers have anything to do with how merit aid is awarded. I received a full ride based solely on my ACT score and GPA. Everyone, regardless of income, who could meet those requirements got the same thing. We all had to fill out a FAFSA.

 

[Poohforyou]

If the school accepts federal money, they are going to ask for those forms because they have to keep them on file for students getting any kind if aid. That doesn't mean those numbers have anything to do with how merit aid is awarded. I received a full ride based solely on my ACT score and GPA. Everyone, regardless of income, who could meet those requirements got the same thing. We all had to fill out a FAFSA.

That's true but with the exception of 1 school all the ones my daughter applied to are private. The point being made is many schools consider a student's financial situation while determining the amount of a merit scholarship award.

 

[DisneyOma]

That's true but with the exception of 1 school all the ones my daughter applied to are private. The point being made is many schools consider a student's financial situation while determining the amount of a merit scholarship award.

The National Merit Scholarship ($2,500, I believe?) is not coming from a school. Perhaps that is where the confusion is coming from?

http://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/interior.aspx?sid=1758&gid=2&pgid=424

 

[AppleDumpling]

As far as Ivies go, three of our finalists applied to Yale and all got in. They were each offered merit aid to the tune of about 16k a year. Not a lot.

None of the Ivy League schools offer merit scholarships. All financial aid is need-based. This is true for several other elite private schools as well. It's possible the students you know received merit-based scholarship money from outside sources, but not from Yale.

 

[Allison]

Some of the more competitive schools that are fully endowed won't give you anything for a national merit ship or any merit ship or any other outside ship. Instead, they figure out how much you can pay and charge you that. Period. No ifs, no ands, and no buts and any outside money you bring in, will not result in any less out of pocket. And if you don't like that, there are thousands of people on their waiting list. Other schools that are a bit less competitive and/or are not fully endowed will aggressively pursue national merit scholarship students. And still other schools will give a student a free ride just for doing well enough to make the finals or semis. I get a kick out of schools saying we get more merit scholars than school X. Well of course you do. School X doesn't give any. HAHA.

What do you mean by fully endowed? That is not a termed I have ever heard used to describe a school. Schools use endowment earnings and tuition revenue to fund the school and scholarships.