National Merit Finalists and impact on tuition

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:USC gives $20k to NMF that list usc as their first choice; not sure if it’s an automatic in anymore- it used to be!

It’s not an automatic in now, they can’t afford to give too many scholarships.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read here that the most selective colleges don't care about merit finalists when it comes to acceptance decisions, but also read that some F500 corporations, non-profits, state colleges, etc. will give "merit scholarships" to any merit finalist who applies. Is it really that straightforward?

Anyone BTDT and know which organizations give out these merit scholarships specifically related to being a finalist? TIA

For the most part, this is true.

[Anonymous]

Here is the 2026 list of sponsors. The selection criteria for corporate-sponsored scholarships are not listed, however.

https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/merit_sponsor_leaflet.pdf?gid=2&pgid=61

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:USC gives $20k to NMF that list usc as their first choice; not sure if it’s an automatic in anymore- it used to be!

It’s not an automatic in now, they can’t afford to give too many scholarships.

For this year, the $20k is still automatic if admitted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hopping on to say how absolutely insane it is to give substantial scholarships based on a test given after only 2 years of high school.

Schools like Alabama and Oklahoma have significant statistical justification for giving ample scholarship funds. These students perform well. In one sense it is not sensible to make a decision on a single test but these schools find the outcomes from these students very desirable.

I feel like SAT/ACT is a better predictor than PSAT

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:USC gives $20k to NMF that list usc as their first choice; not sure if it’s an automatic in anymore- it used to be!

It’s not an automatic in now, they can’t afford to give too many scholarships.

For this year, the $20k is still automatic if admitted.

They purposely accept only a certain number of NMSF though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is the 2026 list of sponsors. The selection criteria for corporate-sponsored scholarships are not listed, however.

https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/merit_sponsor_leaflet.pdf?gid=2&pgid=61

Good luck!

See also the full guide *HERE*

Keep in mind that there are only a small number of corporate-sponsored scholarships available.

Of 16,000 semifinalists, about 15,000 become finalists.

Of those, 2500 will receive $2500 national merit awards. 3600 will be offered university-sponsored awards ranging from $500-$2000.

Only 830 finalists will receive corporate-sponsored awards of $2500-$10,000 — some as one-time awards, and some renewable for up to four years.

The kicker is this: Most — but not all — corporate-sponsored awards are reserved for the children of the sponsoring corporations’ employees. The NMSC doesn’t release those numbers, though 🤷‍♀️

Tl;dr there are only a handful of big ticket national merit scholarships available from corporate sponsors for non-employee families — and scant numbers or criteria for those are publicly available 🥳

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hopping on to say how absolutely insane it is to give substantial scholarships based on a test given after only 2 years of high school.

Schools like Alabama and Oklahoma have significant statistical justification for giving ample scholarship funds. These students perform well. In one sense it is not sensible to make a decision on a single test but these schools find the outcomes from these students very desirable.

I feel like SAT/ACT is a better predictor than PSAT

Odd comment to make. The SAT and ACT are different tests so not sure why you would lump them together. The PSAT is meant to be a practice test for the longer SAT, so the PSAT and SAT are highly correlated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hopping on to say how absolutely insane it is to give substantial scholarships based on a test given after only 2 years of high school.

Schools like Alabama and Oklahoma have significant statistical justification for giving ample scholarship funds. These students perform well. In one sense it is not sensible to make a decision on a single test but these schools find the outcomes from these students very desirable.

I feel like SAT/ACT is a better predictor than PSAT

The advantage of using the PSAT is there is exactly one bite at the apple, so you take away people taking the test many times in the hopes of a qualifying score.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hopping on to say how absolutely insane it is to give substantial scholarships based on a test given after only 2 years of high school.

Schools like Alabama and Oklahoma have significant statistical justification for giving ample scholarship funds. These students perform well. In one sense it is not sensible to make a decision on a single test but these schools find the outcomes from these students very desirable.

I feel like SAT/ACT is a better predictor than PSAT

The advantage of using the PSAT is there is exactly one bite at the apple, so you take away people taking the test many times in the hopes of a qualifying score.

Agree this is the only test taken by every junior - same test and at the same time. So good measure where kids stand

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hopping on to say how absolutely insane it is to give substantial scholarships based on a test given after only 2 years of high school.

Schools like Alabama and Oklahoma have significant statistical justification for giving ample scholarship funds. These students perform well. In one sense it is not sensible to make a decision on a single test but these schools find the outcomes from these students very desirable.

I feel like SAT/ACT is a better predictor than PSAT

The advantage of using the PSAT is there is exactly one bite at the apple, so you take away people taking the test many times in the hopes of a qualifying score.

This, plus the College Board at least intends the PSAT to be a strong indicator of how a student will perform on the SAT.

[Anonymous]

I just got the $2,500 but they actually just deducted it from my need based grant. So it really was nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hopping on to say how absolutely insane it is to give substantial scholarships based on a test given after only 2 years of high school.

Schools like Alabama and Oklahoma have significant statistical justification for giving ample scholarship funds. These students perform well. In one sense it is not sensible to make a decision on a single test but these schools find the outcomes from these students very desirable.

I feel like SAT/ACT is a better predictor than PSAT

The advantage of using the PSAT is there is exactly one bite at the apple, so you take away people taking the test many times in the hopes of a qualifying score.

This, plus the College Board at least intends the PSAT to be a strong indicator of how a student will perform on the SAT.

My NMF scored 1500 on the PSAT (VA) and 1520 on SAT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My high stat UMC kid applied in-state to UMD. He was given full tuition (merit scholarship) + 2K a year for four years as NMS. So, UMD sponsored his NMF scholarship.

I went to KU and they gave me full ride plus books and $400/mo living expenses. This was back in the 90s. I know this school doesn’t even register here but I was going for PhD so undergrad didn’t matter to me. To this day no one asks. I just tell them the prestigious school I went to for grad school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hopping on to say how absolutely insane it is to give substantial scholarships based on a test given after only 2 years of high school.

Schools like Alabama and Oklahoma have significant statistical justification for giving ample scholarship funds. These students perform well. In one sense it is not sensible to make a decision on a single test but these schools find the outcomes from these students very desirable.

This. I graduated summa cum laude