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TooTiredMom
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Posted: Mon Jan 22nd, 2007 08:24 pm |
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S received an interesting letter today from a school that he has already been accepted to.
The letter indicated he has been named a National Merit Finalist. It went on to explain how he needs to list them as his first choice if he has not already done so.
My question is, do the colleges already know this information? I thought NMF was not announced until mid February? I hate for S to get his hopes up if this is really a meaningless letter or do they know something we do not?
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limner
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Posted: Mon Jan 22nd, 2007 11:00 pm |
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TTMom, I don't know the answer, and my S (an NMSF) has headed out to a basketball game with H, but it makes sense that colleges would be notified. S got all sorts of congratulatory letters about his NMSF status. They also mentioned giving money if S selected that school as his final choice. (And these were not necessarily schools that S applied to.)
I think, too, that the student can change their first choice school up until April sometime.
S found out in late Aug. that he was an NMSF when the official date (according to the NM web site) was Sept. 13 (IIRC). So it's not beyond possibility that decisions have been made by late Jan.
Sorry not to have concrete info for you.
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limner
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Posted: Wed Jan 31st, 2007 04:01 pm |
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On another facet of NMF, does anyone have any advice (and this may be premature since S hasn't been notified of anything yet) on designating a "first choice" school on the NM site? S designated Brown, since he applied ED, but, since Ivies don't give merit money, is it worth changing even if Brown is currently still his first choice?
Would it make more sense to designate a school that is his top choice (so far) among schools that offer merit money?
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limner
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Posted: Wed Jan 31st, 2007 08:13 pm |
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To add to this (which I can soon claim as my own private thread  ), S did get notification today that he's a finalist. My question above is prompted because one of the schools S is apply to offers very generous NMF scholarship money (Vanderbilt). IIRC, it's about $8,000 *if* you desinate Vandy as your first choice school. So, even if Vandy turns out to be his 2nd choice, wouldn't it be worth designating Vandy as his first choice on the NMF site since Brown doesn't give any NMF money? Thanks for any illumination you can provide.
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Lderochi
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Posted: Wed Jan 31st, 2007 08:20 pm |
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Limner, I'll keep you from talking to yourself.
CONGRATS!!
Sorry, I can't be more helpful re your actual question . . .
Last edited on Wed Jan 31st, 2007 08:21 pm by Lderochi
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Astrid (Moominmama)
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Posted: Wed Jan 31st, 2007 08:45 pm |
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| WOW! Congratulations to limner's son! Must have been all that good bread . . .
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DesperateDad
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Posted: Wed Jan 31st, 2007 08:47 pm |
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| limner, you are correct. Naming an Ivy (or any need-only school) on your NM form is of no value.
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mackinaw
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Posted: Wed Jan 31st, 2007 09:43 pm |
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We could never figure out the strategy about whether to name a particular school as "first."
We did figure out that there was no point in naming a school that there was no way our son would ever attend (and hadn't even intended to apply to). (Alaska wasn't a destination location for him: no major league baseball there. Florida State, a school that I respect -- and where I used to teach -- had the same problem. I can't recall the names of the other schools that sent him the suggestion that if he designated them he could get a free ride; that was 10 years ago.)
He was offered some small NMF money from Carleton (ca. $4K as I recall) and an even smaller amount ($750!!!) from Chicago. I'm not sure why Chicago even bothered, except perhaps to build their own resume.
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limner
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Posted: Wed Jan 31st, 2007 10:01 pm |
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Lderochi, thank you for saving me from talking to myself (although it wouldn't be the first time, certainly). And Astrid, yes, I think we should credit the bread.Nothing like good nutrition!
DD, now I just have to convince my son that Brown isn't going to see that he's named another school as his "first choice" on NMF and reject him or something. Sigh. That's his concern.
mac, I found the $8k that Vandy mentioned in their letter really memorable, Carleton's $4k (or maybe $2k, can't remember) less so. And I didn't realize that Chicago offered any, so I obviously I completely forgot about their NMF money. Still, if one of those schools ultimately accepts S (he's applied to all of those) and he decides on one of them, I'd like that money, whether it's 8k or 750.
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mackinaw
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Posted: Wed Jan 31st, 2007 10:07 pm |
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I'd take it, too. I seem to recall that Chicago upped the amount a bit in recent years but it remains a token amount. Good luck to your S on all these applications. It all looks pretty promising so far.
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DesperateDad
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Posted: Wed Jan 31st, 2007 10:07 pm |
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| brown will not see that his first NMF choice is Vandy, since the only schools that are notified are the two he puts down.
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patsmom
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Posted: Wed Jan 31st, 2007 10:11 pm |
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| 3 years ago when S1 was a NMF accepted at Vanderbilt, they used to offer $5000 if you listed them as first choice. They had probably the most generous NM offer of anyplace (other than the state U's like UF, Nebraska, Arizona, etc. that offered full/nearly full rides). That's great that they have raised it to $8000!
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CarolynLawrence
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Posted: Wed Jan 31st, 2007 11:46 pm |
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| Limner -- CONGRATULATIONS TO YOUR SON!!! That is wonderful news, and I'm sure you popped all your buttons when you heard. Since he's been deferred from Brown ED, one thing I would make sure to do, regardless of whether he decides to change the first-choice designation, is to let Brown know.
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limner
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Posted: Thu Feb 1st, 2007 12:02 am |
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Thanks, DD. I'll let him know. I can't imagine an Ivy or the like would hold it against one for putting a school that actually offers NMF money first.
Carolyn, yep, I popped those last few buttons that were still holding on after all that bread and biscotti I've been eating. The letter came from the school board and was addressed to H and me. It was an invite to attend the next school board meeting where they'll honor the 18 NMFs from our county (at the top of the agenda, they were kind enough to point out).
S and my dad headed off to Earlham this afternoon. S did write and ask if he could take a tour and do an interview (he's into "stealth" college visits, argh). I'm hoping he'll get curious (or they'll have assumptions) and he'll sit in on a class and meet some profs. I'm really curious to see what he thinks. After filling out tons of FinAid stuff, H was impressed that Earlham only required the FAFSA (I told him it was those "simple, Quakerly values." (H is a Quaker.)
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limner
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Posted: Thu Feb 1st, 2007 12:06 am |
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Forgot to say thanks for the congrats, patsmom. My eyes bulged when I read the Vandy letter. And since we're in TN, S would get $4800 from the lottery scholarship if he goes in state. So, if he gets accepted to Vandy, that might be one of the more attractive deals. But we'll have to wait and see what works out. <------ Me, in the next phase of stressing out--figuring out finances.
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entomom
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Posted: Thu Feb 1st, 2007 02:02 am |
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Great news Limner, congrats to your son on the NMF honor and the $$!! Sounds like everything has started to drop in place, hope your son enjoys his visit to Earlham.
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jocelynDAD
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Posted: Thu Feb 1st, 2007 05:11 am |
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Limner:
Earlham has their own FA form to be completed in addition to the FAFSA.
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macnyc
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Posted: Thu Feb 1st, 2007 05:51 am |
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Limner, how did your son find out? Did a letter come to the house, or did his school tell him?
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binx
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Posted: Thu Feb 1st, 2007 10:36 am |
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| Congratulations! That is worth popping buttons over. You must be so proud.
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limner
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Posted: Thu Feb 1st, 2007 02:01 pm |
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I hope he enjoys it too, EM. We'll see. We have a snow day from here, so he'll be pleased that he hasn't had to use one of his two allowed college-visting absences.
Thanks, jDad. I've sent my H the link. It's still better than one of S's schools--they also wanted our 2005 tax return.
macnyc, we (H and I) got a letter from the county school board telling us that he'd progressed and inviting him to attend a school board meeting where the NMFs will honored in some way. I've been scouring the mail hoping some school would write and let it out of the bag (if there was something in the bag to be let out). So I opened the school board letter without any anticipation.
Thanks, binx. This almost makes up for our visit to the orthodontist to get the monetary damage estimate on our 9-year-old D's teeth. Ah, parenthood, the ups, the downs, the MONEY!
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