S/O: National Merit Scholar money….is it really worth it?

[Globetrotter]

Congratulations to the semi finalists and finalist kids here….what an accomplishment.

I totally get that it is free and that a bonus but again I have a kid who stresses herself out a ton so I don’t want to cause her an additional stress. After taking the PSAT yesterday (10th grade) though I think she is feeling better about it. If her scores are good enough though she will at least hopefully qualify for one of the Hispanic heritage scholarships as well.

Thanks for all of the information. That is great news about USC being half off for a merit scholar finalist but honestly I am not sure that would be enough to make it reasonable unless it truly was the price of a UC ($20k plus room and board so $30k max per year and then total debt after being graduation being maybe $50k….) I figure at this point we can pay $20k per year with little to no savings…..…..I know no where near the BBB norm, but our reality of being state employees and living in a hcol to vhcol area….at least we are still pre retirement age when our kids are in college

That Alabama package is amazing.



University of California (Berkeley, Los Angeles, Santa Cruz, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Merced, Riverside, Davis, and Irvine plus San Francisco for law school and medical degrees for grad. students only).

UC schools like out of state and international admissions because they can collect a ton more in out of state tuition.


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DS Wanted to either stay on the West Coast or the northeast near family, so a very limited area with limited national merit options, though USC was a great option for him. It’s definitely on the higher end, even with the NM money. Yes the Alabama package is amazing!
I’m glad your DD is feeling better after taking it.
My DD used to stress like that, but she’s grown out of it. She barely missed the NM qualification and, in retrospect, she should have practiced the math at least once, but as you said I didn’t want to push it given her anxiety. She ended up doing very well on her ACT the next month after doing some practice tests. Whereas DS seems to enjoy taking tests- strange child lol

[Kindra178]

The 10th grade test is just practice. Even though it is the same test, only the 11th grade one counts for National Merit Semifinalist or National Hispanic Scholar (recently renamed National Recognition Program). However, sophomores can qualify for National Recognition if they take two AP tests sophomore year and get 3's or better and are one of the underrepresented groups included.

My oldest was both a National Merit Semifinalist and National Recognition Program recipient. Although she did not get any money directly from the program, I believe that having those recognitions helped her get other scholarship offers. She had offers directly related to the programs (free tuition at UArizona and ASU, full ride at U Alabama, UF and UCF and UTD). The offer she ended up accepting was full tuition. It was a competitive scholarship not directly related to National Merit, but I having those recognitions couldn't have hurt!

For CA, National Recognition is much easier to get than National Merit - but there are still benefits. It could always change, but currently UArizona and ASU offer full tuition for National Recognition. They are good affordable backups to have.

I have posted this before, but Arizona is a super hot (not weather!!) school around here.

[cheme]

The 10th grade test is just practice. Even though it is the same test, only the 11th grade one counts for National Merit Semifinalist or National Hispanic Scholar (recently renamed National Recognition Program). However, sophomores can qualify for National Recognition if they take two AP tests sophomore year and get 3's or better and are one of the underrepresented groups included.

My oldest was both a National Merit Semifinalist and National Recognition Program recipient. Although she did not get any money directly from the program, I believe that having those recognitions helped her get other scholarship offers. She had offers directly related to the programs (free tuition at UArizona and ASU, full ride at U Alabama, UF and UCF and UTD). The offer she ended up accepting was full tuition. It was a competitive scholarship not directly related to National Merit, but I having those recognitions couldn't have hurt!

For CA, National Recognition is much easier to get than National Merit - but there are still benefits. It could always change, but currently UArizona and ASU offer full tuition for National Recognition. They are good affordable backups to have.

Just wanted to update - looks like ASU has gotten rid of the National Recognition Program full tuition this year unfortunately. Confirm on their website, but I didn't want to spread false info! This is unfortunate for us as I was hoping it would be a good backup for dc #2.