What's the big deal about National Merit Scholarships?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Last year when my son took the PSATs, his combined score was 231 and his school told him he’d be applying for a National Merit Scholarship.

This weekend, he got an email from the counseling office saying “we have good news for you, but we want to tell you in person.” So, he went to the counseling office during his first free period, and was told, “hey, you qualify to apply for a National Merit Scholarship!”

This is mildly annoying on the part of the counseling office (what, this news is so special they couldn’t just tell him in an e-mail, especially when they told him last year that this would be the case?), but anyway … why exactly should he care?

My first though is that the chances of him advancing very far in the process seem quite slim. Naturally as him mom I love him to death and think he’s the best kid ever, but I am not blind to the fact that he’s not overly well-rounded (no athletic endeavors whatsoever, and he stopped viola lessons after 10th grade; basically his life is all about science and math except for philosophy club and animal rights) and while he essentially did get straight A’s as a junior, his freshman and sophomore years his grades were very good but not super-duper spectacular (one-third B’s, two-thirds As). It seems that the NMS program wants well-rounded kids who had the highest possible grades from the moment they set foot in high school.

For another, it’s just another application to worry about when he is deep in the middle of trying to get high grades in a very challenging courseload (mixed IB high and AP courses) at the same time he does college applications and interviews. Good grief, the kid already had to spend his weekend doing practice interviews, since his MIT interview is two days from now. He’s going early action at Cal-Tech and MIT, and applying to the UC system, so he’s got college application deadlines hitting him like crazy this fall.

My final concern is what true value (other than being able to brag) advancing through the selection process would have. We are fortunate enough not to need the money, and the scholarships seem pretty minimal anyway. Don’t get me wrong, I know that $2500 is a lot of money for some families struggling to finance college tuition (though one hopes those families will be eligible for need-based scholarships). But c’mon … $2500 is peanuts next to the cost of 4 years at any of the institutions CairoSon is applying to. The “honor” of being a finalist, should he somehow make it that far, will not come until February 2016 or so. By then, he will have long since finished all his college applications. It’s hard for me to believe that any colleges he is applying to will care much, given that it would simply reinforce what they will already know about my son. (With transcripts, recommendations, SAT and SAT subject scores, personal essays, and a record of extra-curricular and summer activities at their disposal, what exactly NEW would schools expect to learn from the fact he was a NMS finalist?)

Anyway … my question for you all in the Doper community is: exactly why should my kid be thrilled that he gets to apply for something that he doesn’t have much of a shot at winning, which will take away from his time for other vital pursuits, and which won’t offer much of value if by some miracle he does win?

Perhaps someone can explain why this is the best thing ever, but to me it feels like some kind of inertia-driven attempt (I know these scholarships have been around for centuries) to prop up the validity of ETS.

2

I was a National Hispanic Merit Scholar, and thanks to that, I was able to study at University of Florida without getting into any undergraduate student debt.

FWIW, I don’t remember filling out any extra information. I guess if they requested it, my school sent them the info? All that I remember taking was the PSAT, in preparation for the SAT I took the next year (or two?).

Anyways, I only knew I was a Scholar when I got the brochures from all the universities that offered scholarships to those in the program, and many of them pointed out “Hey, you’re a NHMS and you qualify for our “honors program” and blablablabla” Edit: No, I remember now that I was mentioned as a scholar in some school award events, but nothing surprising. It wasn’t until a year or two later, when I finally applied for colleges, that I got the importance. Oh, hey, money!

Not all of the universities gave a good scholarship package, but UF did. And it was waaaaay more than $2500.

The scholarship for the “minority” scholars (the National Achievement and the National Hispanic Merit) was less than what the “true” scholars got (National Merit), and it was still substantial. Complete removal of out of state fees if out of state, plus about $25,000 per year (which at that time in UF was basically full tuition plus money), or $12500 per semester, for 8 semester (they changed the rules so that you could also apply for the summer semester). During the summer (for before they let you use summers), you could still apply for the out-of-state waiver and get about $3000, which again, at that time in UF was more than enough to pay for tuition. And I think I also got some travel money since I participated in a student travel program (to France, woohoo). I think the “true” scholars got slightly more money per year (by $2500-$5000 more). I think there were talks of making the value amount of all merit scholarships equal, anyways.

So, in my experience, I had no paperwork to fill out (and neither did my parents, if anything, the school handled it), and I received, from the participating university, quite a generous amount of money that was equivalent to a full ride.

3

Things have changed radically since the old days - back when I was of PSAT-taking age, your score was all it took. Nowadays, it’s an entire application process.

4

If he/you doesn’t feel it’s worth the hassle to apply for a payout of $2500, then don’t bother to apply, it’s just that easy.

I’m certain there are numerous other families that would willingly jump through the hoops required, for any amount of funding, if it means their kid can go to college or can avoid some debt. Clearly you don’t.

I’m not seeing the problem, to be honest. No one is forcing the kid to apply, just say no. And know another family will be grateful you did! Everybody wins!

5

I sincerely doubt that. The school will want him to apply for reasons of their own.

Please don’t be irritated because this is not financially important for us. My question isn’t meant to be read as “hah, we are too good to take their piddling sum! I fart in the direction of $2500!!!” Rather, I honestly want to know whether this mechanism is just another ridiculous aspect of the crazy game kids are forced to play to get into a competitive school these days, or whether it genuinely means something worthwhile as an honor. As this is not an award based on financial need but rather someone’s estimate of “merit”, the money should only symbolize that honor - not be the honor.

6

It’s an academic honor and its an extremely prestigious one at that. He can put it on his resume/cv as he enters the workforce during and after college. He can use it to bolster his application for colleges, internships and other honors as evidence of academic strength. Perhaps you don’t realize just how competitive it is- for many it’s not about the money but it’s an honor and recognition of strong academic aptitude and success.

7

Is it that much of a paper process? I seriously doubt it would take a lot more than other stuff, or take significant time away from other things your son could be doing to get a chance at other scholarships.

And again, are you sure it is exactly just $2500? Granted, I took it between 2001-2004, but there were people who were still in the program, up to the year I graduated and later, who had scholarships of way more than $2500. Basically, a complete 4-year scholarship. But it would depend on the university, it seems. From what I looked up, it seems UF has an endowment scholarship for the merit scholars. So they can offer more than the $2500 given by the program. But this wasn’t a scholarship I applied for, I’m guessing this was an automatic grant.

I can believe that things have changed after the recession, I’d be surprised the change would be so drastic, in terms of payout. :frowning: Hmm, wait, I think I do know someone who got a scholarship and she should’ve been started around 2008 (one of my vet school teacher’s daughter).

Again, for me, it was certainly worthwhile. I got a debt-free undergraduate degree!

8

I was a National Merit scholar ( mid 80’s ) and don’t remember it being much big deal, except for my parents and a few teachers. I do recall it being a series of tests though - from semi-finalist, then to finalist, and finally to an actual National Merit scholar. It probably helped me get into the university I wanted though the money did not put much of a dent in the tuition bill.

Congratulations to your son. I hope gets into the school of his choice.

9

I think what you are saying is that he is a Semifinalist and has to fill out the application to become a finalist. I am not sure why you think this is a crap shoot - 15,000 out of 16,000 become finalists, and that is really the only part they control. The big money once you are finalist is going to one of the schools that give Merit Scholars a completely free ride - and you are in control of that - you talk directly to the school, and designate them your first choice. At least when I went to school, you needn’t be designated to receive a scholarship directly from NMSC to get the school scholarships, just be a finalist.
If you pick the right school, you can receive full tuition, room and board paid.
So I guess the question for you and him is whether he’d like to attend his first choice school or have a brand new car and a large down payment for a house instead.

https://www.applerouth.com/blog/2010/08/06/schools-offer-free-ride-to-students-based-on-psat-scores/

10

There may be more money in it than just the amount of the scholarship. When I went to undergrad, I got additional scholarship money from my undergrad institution because I was a National Merit scholar.

11

Hijack: He’s applying early to two schools? I thought you could only apply early to one school?

12

I attended MIT, funded in large part by a National Merit Scholarship that was co-funded by another organization. I don’t know what the current situation is (and both of the other organizations that funded that scholarship have been swallowed up, or are in reduced circumstances now), but certainly the amount of the scholarsahip I received was proportionally larger than what you say the current one is. You might want to look more deeply into it (although you say that money isn’t a factor).

13

There are different categories these days for early application/admission/acceptance. They’re not all binding, so you can apply early acceptance to one school but early admission to another, for example.

14

Thanks - that is the kind of info I’m looking for (and based on your user name, I’m guessing you are in a good position to comment).

I do realize how competitive it is, however, and that’s why I think it makes sense to question the process, rather than to just run blindly salivating after an extra pat on the head for being smart. If he has an extremely remote chance of advancing through the process, and the process does take time and effort away from other activities, then common sense dictates asking: is the reward really great enough to justify the effort? From your answer, perhaps it is. Though I still wonder what colleges can figure out based on winning the NMS competition that they can’t figure out from everything else applicants submit.

To posters like DrumBum - please be aware that your experience in the mid-1980s, that is to say 30 years ago, does not necessarily reflect how things are today. Decisions are now based on transcripts and applications (which to the best of my knowledge include essays and reporting of extra-curriculars and supplementary achievements). Although they haven’t updated the information yet (the dates all refer to last year as I write this), here are the current requirements.

15

Like IvoryTowerDenizen says, there are different types of admission processes. “Early Action,” available at both MIT and Cal-Tech, is non-binding. “Early Decision” is binding.

16

I’m not at all irritated you don’t have the financial need for these funds, I promise. I just think if you’re both luke warm over the process and reward, there is nothing wrong with skipping it and letting it fall to a family that will be over the moon about it all. You win, they win. Does your child fully share your view?

17

Check the May 31st deadline. It seems that there are two different scholarships here, one is the standard $2500, which you deem relatively insignificant, and the other one is the college-sponsored award. What many of us are saying is that, hey, we got the college-sponsored award because we were National Merit Scholars.

I checked the UF webpage and apparently they still have the college-sponsored award, it is one of their endowed programs. Other colleges seem to have it as well.

18

Thank you both. I graduated high school in 1984, so my experience is quite old. (We had to hand-write or type our college applications. And there was no such thing as the Common App.)

Might I suggest that your son consider the fine engineering school located in Troy, NY as a backup?

19

Only one of the schools my son is interested in has a college-sponsored award. And again - please, I don’t think any snark about “which you deem insignificant” is justified. (Not that you were being snarky, but it could be read that way.) The smart thing to do in any situation is to look at the investment of resources needed and the probable outcomes before deciding on a course of action. Would you spend $50 to have a 60% chance of winning a million dollars? Hell yes. Would you spend $500 to have a 1 in three million chance of winning $5000? Probably not. I am merely attempting to ascertain where, between these two extremes, the NMS application process lies.

20

Thanks for the clarification. To answer your question - no, I think my son is not particularly skeptical about the process of applying. His self-worth is largely tied up in his ability to do well on standardized tests and similar measures of intellectual achievement, so he’s happy to complete any process where he’ll be recognized in this fashion. And of course, we will support his application. This doesn’t preclude me being curious, or maybe even downright skeptical, however.