Bethorama33

Great info! I guess there's a lot of information if you dig enough! I didn't understand your comment croft henhouse about op's son? What is op?

cptofthehouse

The OP is the Original Poster of the thread.

FooMonChew

Well NEU is by far your best bet in New England. But I'm not sure full tuition is automatic for being NMF... even if it is this year it may not be next. I would think they'd get hundreds upon hundreds of NMF kids applying if it was automatic, and then there's no way NEW could cover that type of cost.

IMO it is an over the top award for just being NMF. My S had a PSAT 222, but we're in mass so that doesn't make the cutoff (223 his year)... any other state he would be NMF.

Assuming NEU gives you full tuition it's by far the best deal you'll get in New England. Merit awards are generally pretty poor at new england schools. Big merit money is out of new england.

Anyway with his stats NEU is is best option, just don't assume it's guaranteed. His stats probably aren't going to be good enough to get full tuition at any other top 100 school in the US. NMF path will give him the best deals.

BTW, there's nothing "national" about NMF, it's all state by state. I really think the colleges don't realize how it's setup. Someone from like Mississippi with a 205 PSAT can get NMF but a 222 from Mass can't even make the cut? Also, huge merit awards for a PSAT test generally taken early Junior year doesn't make sense, the awards should have based on SAT or ACT scores which are Senior year. Also, if you take PSAT sophmore year, no matter what the score it doesn't count. It's just in my opinion completely out of balance the awards for this whole NMF program. But it is what it is so take advantage of it if you make the cut.

sylvan8798

Isn't that the point, though? If they just took the top X scores across the country, it would be lopsided in favor of certain places/schools and a lot of kids especially from poorer states would never stand a chance. Agree that it's a rather strange metric to base such large awards on.

FooMonChew

^^^ I'm not sure that's the "point", it's not something you see explicitly stated on NMF websites. The different cutoffs aren't necessarily due to "poorer" state. It's also a function of the number of students taking PSAT. Some state (like mid-west) are ACT-centric so they don't take PSAT (they take whatever the ACT version is). So you may have a state where only 20% of students take PSAT, but the cutoff is set so 1% of the entire student population makes the cutoff. So with only 20% actually taking test, as many as 5% of the test takers make NMF cutoff.

Some states like MA have virtually ALL students take PSAT.

BobWallace

The Northeastern full tuition scholarship for NMF is quite real - they report awarding around 100 per year.

Scholarships | Admissions

This student's stats are certainly good enough to get full tuition at other quality schools. I'm not sure where your notion that he wouldn't be able to comes from. A 1520 SAT and NMF status will either one earn full scholarships at many good schools, just not that many in New England.

FooMonChew

I said top 100 schools, NEU is one. Yes there are other good smaller or lower ranked schools where the stats will be good enough. But as it is not many top 100 offer merit, so of those that do offer large merit it's extremely competitive. Full tuition merit would require high SAT (probably higher than 2250) AND top 5% or higher in class rank.

Of course the "NMF" schools won't be a problem, but there's not too many of those that offer full tuition... I'd bet well under 10

I didn't say NEU full tuition isn't real, the question is whether or not it's automatic if you're NMF (and of course get admitted). Do ALL NMF enrolled students at NEU get full tuition? 100 is quite large, maybe it in fact is all.

My only point to OP, let NEU be 1st option, but keep searching for alternatives just in case they don't come through for whatever reason.

mathmomvt

I did confirm with NEU that the NMF full-tuition scholarship was guaranteed, at least for kids entering in 2011.

I agree with FonMonChew that the overemphasis on the Junior-year PSAT is a bit odd. NMF is one of very few ways to get merit based on stats alone, and pretty much the only way to get big merit for stats in the northeast. And no, it's not "fair" that a 222 in MA doesn't make the cut while a much lower score will in other states. But... a kid in a state where "virtually everyone" takes the PSAT also has advantages regarding preparation and even information. In our rural VT HS they don't particularly encourage kids to take it, and never tell that big scholarships are riding on the results, and prep classes don't exist. I'm not making any statement about FooMon's child, but just observing that in general, some schools/areas make a bigger deal of it which can advantage their students.

BobWallace

College rankings are malarkey, and it always saddens me to encounter those who take them seriously. Nevertheless, since it matters to you, he would get full tuition at many "top 100" (sic) schools, such as Fordham, Texas A&M, Baylor, Alabama, Tulsa, and Drexel, and those are just the automatic awards.

cptofthehouse

As a NMF, he should be getting a number of colleges interested in him, and some nice merit awards as well. Full tuition though is pretty danged good, especially at a school as desirable as NE and near to the OP's home as well.

I think he'll do well in having some good choices in terms of schools and prices.

Bethorama33

"In our rural VT HS they don't particularly encourage kids to take it, and never tell that big scholarships are riding on the results, and prep classes don't exist."

I have to concur with this statement for Maine as well. If I had any idea that large scholarships were available due to PSAT scores I would have encouraged my kids to study for them. I only thought of them as a preperatory test for the all important SATs... The PSAT pamphlet they come home with only mentions $2,500 scholarships.

I think the population of different states may impact the percentage of higher scores?

FooMonChew

yeah ranking needs to be taken in context. I'm only speaking in terms of my searching for my kid who was an engineering major. Pretty much only large universities would offer engineering programs, that pretty much right there puts them into top 100 or 200. Usually schools after that in rankings are smaller public and private colleges which aren't going to offer engineering major.

For someone looking for teaching career there is a much wider selection of schools for which to try to find merit. A fine education can be had from most schools regardless of ranking.

NEU scholarship is a great deal, maybe the best in the US for a just being a NMF.
My kid with tippy top stats could only get 20K merit there, which leaves $35K+ per year after that to pay. He's not going there.

nocturnalduck

I am a National Merit Scholar and qualified for full tuition at Drexel. However, I applied Early Action (and was accepted to) MIT, and it's where I'm going in the fall.

A few reasons why:
1. MIT is need blind, so applying won't hurt. If the application fee will cause financial hardship, most of the time they are happy to waive it.
2. An MIT (or other top-tier school) experience is, in my opinion, one that I can only get at MIT. Are there other wonderful, lesser known, cheaper schools? Absolutely. Can they offer a great education? Yes! But in the end, MIT has a wonderfully unique atmosphere (and it makes a great addition to resumes!).
3. Some students ended up paying less than they expected (i.e. their EFC was greater than they thought it would be. This happens because MIT calculates EFC using their own system, called the Institutional Methodology, meaning your EFC can vary from school to school.) Some students ended up paying more than they expected. When asked why they chose MIT, many said that they consider the expense "an investment" for the future.
4. MIT has some amazing opportunities that could be unavailable elsewhere. MISTI (google it) is the first one I can think of off the top of my head. It's basically an all-expenses paid internship in a foreign country! You even get a stipend. The UROP program (Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program) also means that you can research in a lab for credit or cash. It's not a co-op, but it's close.

Basically what I'm saying that it doesn't hurt to apply. I've used MIT as an example here but you can substitute it with any school that meets full need-based aid. You may be pleasantly surprised when comparing aid packages at the end!

FooMonChew

MIT, without a doubt a great school. Many here won't qualify for much need based aid so they're searching for schools with merit aid. MIT gives NO merit aid (understandably so, all the admits have great stats).

Early action and it sounds like you needed aid, hope that worked out. That's not a route someone with an EFC of 20K or higher can chance (early action route), the school might decide there's no need (they're a CSS profile school).

Although I don' t think their FA is a good as HYP. Did you get good aid in the end?

notrichenough

Early action at MIT is non-exclusive and non-binding. You are confusing it with early decision.