University of Southern California

February 12, 2018
KYLE K. WONG
1285 LITTLETON DR Semifinalist ID #: 18-15339
SAN JOSE CA 95131 Selection Unit #: 05-2009
Dear Finalist:
Congratulations! You have advanced to Finalist standing in the 2018 National Merit® Scholarship Program, a
distinction that places you in a group of more than 15,000 students representing less than one percent of U.S. high
school graduating seniors. A Certificate of Merit attesting to this accomplishment has been sent to your principal for
presentation to you.
The National Merit Program is privately financed, and the majority of scholarships offered are underwritten by
approximately 420 independent sponsor organizations and institutions. Although this nationwide academic
competition is the largest of its kind, scholarship funds are limited and only about 7,500 of the Finalists will receive
a Merit Scholarship® award.
Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in 2018; no Finalist can receive more than one award.
❖ All Finalists are being considered for one of the 2,500 single-payment National Merit $2500 Scholarships
that will be offered on a state representational basis.
❖ Finalists who meet specific criteria of a company or business sponsor will be considered for one of about
1,000 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards. Most of these awards are designated for Finalists
who are children of a sponsor’s employees, but some are offered for residents of areas where the company
is located, and a limited number are reserved for students planning to enter career fields a sponsor wishes to
encourage.
❖ Finalists who meet the three conditions listed on the reverse side of this letter may be considered for one of
about 4,000 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards to be financed by U.S. colleges and universities that
have made sponsor arrangements with National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC).
Every Merit Scholarship award must be used for full-time attendance at a college or university in the United States
that holds accredited status with a regional accrediting commission on higher education. Our records show that as of
January 15, 2018, the regionally accredited U.S. college you reported to NMSC as your first choice is:
University of Southern California
We will begin mailing National Merit Scholarship offers to winners at their home addresses in March. Finalists who
have not been chosen to receive a Merit Scholarship award will be informed in mid-May after most selections have
been completed. All of us associated with the National Merit Program salute you for your attainments to date and
offer our best wishes for the realization of the high goals you set for yourself.
Sincerely,
Kimberly C. Greiner
Director of Scholarship Administration
REPORT OF A SPONSOR COLLEGE AS A FIRST CHOICE
(From page 3 of “Requirements and Instructions for Semifinalists” document.)
Consideration for a college-sponsored Merit Scholarship award is limited to Semifinalists who qualify as
Finalists and who also
1. report to NMSC that a sponsor college is their first choice (see the list of college sponsors available at
http://www.nationalmerit.org/resources);
2. have applied for admission to the sponsor college; and
3. have not been offered any other National Merit Scholarship (corporate-sponsored, National, or
another college-sponsored award). No student will receive more than one scholarship offer
from NMSC.
A college-sponsored Merit Scholarship award can be used only at the institution financing it and therefore is
canceled if the winner changes college choice.
Schedule specific to college-sponsored awards:
March 1 through May 31, 2018: A Finalist who has reported a sponsor college as first choice before
March 1 will be included in the first group referred to that institution for scholarship consideration. Only
the sponsoring college you have listed as your first choice will be notified. Periodically NMSC will notify
sponsors of additional Finalists who have reported (by May 31) the college or university as their first choice.
May 1, 2018: NMSC will begin mailing college-sponsored Merit Scholarship offers.
NOTE: If NMSC receives notification of a change in college choice from a Finalist after mailing a
college-sponsored Merit Scholarship offer to that student, the change in college choice will not be
processed and the Finalist cannot be offered another college-sponsored Merit Scholarship award. This
applies even if the new choice of college is one that also sponsors Merit Scholarship awards. Therefore, a
Finalist who has previously reported a sponsor college as first choice but is uncertain about it may choose
to notify NMSC that he or she is now “undecided” to prevent being made an offer from a school he or she
is uncertain about attending; such notification must be submitted online at osa.nationalmerit.org before
May 1. The Finalist can subsequently report a firm college choice that NMSC receives by May 31.
May 31, 2018: Deadline date for NMSC to receive reports of a sponsor college as first choice. Because it
is necessary to treat all Finalists consistently and conclude the annual competition in a timely manner, only
college choice reports that NMSC receives by May 31, 2018, will be used to identify the final group of
candidates to a college or university that sponsors awards.
PLEASE NOTE:
You can report your college choice or a change in it by logging on to osa.nationalmerit.org using the username
and password you created in the fall.

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February 12, 2018

University of Southern California

(From page 3 of “Requirements and Instructions for Semifinalists” document.)

2. have applied for admission to the sponsor college; and

Schedule specific to college-sponsored awards:

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