College emails/letters that Refer to NHRP: A List

itsv · 10-12-2009, 01:51 PM

Based on the review of my DS's mail as well a what he is telling me from his emails, it looks like colleges are starting to send out emails and letters to students who are National Hispanic Scholars/National Hispanic Recognition Program. Maybe to help others, everyone could list any college letter/email/phone call that refers to NHRP or National Hispanic Scholar. In case someone misses a letter/email and is interested in a particular school, it would alert to the student to the college's interest in NHRP studetns. If there is any other "perk" such as fee waiver, invite, honors college etc., that item could also be listed.

Penn State: letter (mentioned Buton-Waller Scholarship and Fellows Program)
Michigan: letter (included a fee waiver)
U of Iowa: email (said auto admit to honors college, priority registration, special housing and at least $7500 to full-ride in scholarships)
Whitman: (invite to apply to all expenses-paid visit through Visit Scholarship Program, Students who qualify for Whitman Achievement Scholarships receive btw 8-12K)

Youdon'tsay · 10-13-2009, 03:12 PM

Ds's gotten a couple, but I can't remember from where.

Today, he received a letter from the Texas A&M Honors Program, saying: "Congratulations on being named a National Hispanic Scholar in the National Hispanic Recognition Program. To honor your accomplishment, $14,000 is waiting for you to claim by applying to and being accepted by Texas A&M University."

manyamile · 10-15-2009, 11:17 AM

Daughter got the same one from Texas A&M yesterday.

sms92 · 10-15-2009, 09:55 PM

Penn State: letter (mentioned Buton-Waller Scholarship and Fellows Program)
Michigan: letter (included a fee waiver)
U of Iowa: email (said auto admit to honors college, priority registration, special housing and at least $7500 to full-ride in scholarships)
Whitman: (invite to apply to all expenses-paid visit through Visit Scholarship Program, Students who qualify for Whitman Achievement Scholarships receive btw 8-12K)

U of Nebraska: letter( Chancellor's Scholarship- full tution+ $2k towards room&board).
Willamette U: letter ($15k renewable scholarship +fee waiver ).
U of Alabama: letter for >32 ACT or 1400 SAT + 3.5gpa (full tution + on campus housing + $1k spending $ + $2k summer study abroad).

Youdon'tsay · 10-16-2009, 01:25 PM

Fordham mentions NHRP. Doesn't guarantee money but you'll be considered for same scholarship as NMSF.

itsv · 10-18-2009, 10:40 PM

Alabama up the anty. If you sign up for an orientation by 6/2010, they will have a special ceremony and present you with a laptop to keep.

csleslie51 · 10-19-2009, 10:13 AM

Threads already on this subject:
Colleges offering scholarships to National Hispanic Scholars
Full rides for National Hispanic Scholar Finalists (may need to be updated)

fineartsmajormom · 10-20-2009, 10:25 AM

Alabama is definitely playing hardball. Yesterday's mailing included an official looking certificate with practically a guarantee of tuition/fees plus stipend. Perhaps a roadtrip to the deep south is in order.....

entomom · 10-20-2009, 12:47 PM

Great to see so much activity due to the NHRP list! It's been 3 years, but I don't recall getting many NHRP specific offers when D1 went through the process, mostly just general mailings that I assumed were prompted by the designation.

itsv · 10-20-2009, 01:50 PM

Entomom, like fineartsmom mentioned, it is getting very interesting with NHRP. Letters from deans, presidents and chancellors directed specifically at the student with students's name. Alamba sent one very nice letter than 5 days letter sent that certificate. Iowa's offer is also tempting. DS even got a personal addressed email from Harvard inviting him to a diversity weekend, also he received one from UVA. No offer of paying for travel with it.

On an important side note for everyone, last night I went to Boston University's local presentation while son was at Wake Forest's. The rep alerted me to something I had not thought of recently. Some NHRP's offers might require a separate scholarship application and the date for submitting the application may fall before the regular college application is due. For example, BU requires a merit scholarship application be filed by Dec. 1 while college application is due Jan. 1 (if i remember correctly.) Also not every Hispanic Scholar will receive an award, the admission rep says it is a competitive process and only some of the Hispanic Scholars will receive the Hispanic Scholar 50% tuition award.

So while back at Vanderbilt and Ohio State with DS starting today, my furloughed DH will be given the task of checking for due dates for merit scholarships and financial aid.

Also DS/DH said that Wake Forest told them they would give money for NHRP although it is not listed on their website.

Please keep posting any letters or emails noting NHRP, it gives us all a more updated list and some of the specifics of previous awards have changed.
thanks, itsv

entomom · 10-20-2009, 02:04 PM

This is getting me very excited about next year for D2. She took the PSAT last weekend, and this will help take some of the pressure off of trying to make NMS as it seems like there are even more opportunities based on NHRP.

itsv · 10-26-2009, 12:31 PM

Westminster College sent DS a letter that specifically referred to him as a NHS and said upon admission he would automatically get a 4 year full tuition ride of $98K. Letter was from Dean of Admissions.

fineartsmajormom · 10-27-2009, 12:21 PM

I think this process with S has shown how it is important for hispanic students to hear about these opportunities when they are freshman and sophomores. My D is 3 years behind big brother and all of her friends are firstborns and onlies and many are hispanic. When I tell parents about the offers my s is getting now and how important the psat is for this they are amazed that the counselors downplay the psat as a "practice". My son walked into the PSAT cold and was lucky to get NHS. His SAT was up significantly after some prep.

Unfortunately, that PSAT is really important for getting some of this attention and financial support based on the NHS designation, particularly for the kids who are first time college applicants in the family or have immigrant parents who are unaware of the incredible variety of schools as well as financial support for college educatiothat are out there for our kids. SO...I am actively recruiting parents to get our kids into a PSAT prep class and see if we can get one of the test prep companies to give us a special group offer for our 10th graders next year. As you know, prep for these things can't be done well quickly. Many will need extra help with the vocab and it is nicer to be with a group of kids that share similar backgrounds and challenges. Last, my D is far more likely to take a PSAT class (at the risk of being labeled a nerd) if she has friends in it who also share pushy parents who want to increase scholarship chances.

The "recruit other Latino parents to join a group effort" has been highly successful for rules about D dating before age 16 (over your father's dead body) and curfew (10pm on football night only, dinner time the rest of the week) The football night curfew is a concession to living in the US. Thank goodness I can point to Pilar, Angela, Maria, as facing the same curfew and dating regime. Why not add PSAT preparation as another cultural burden to bear as a child of hispanic parents?

entomom · 10-27-2009, 01:01 PM

I totally agree that getting started early is key. My D2 balked last year when I wanted her to take the PSAT as a soph for practice, no prep except looking at the instruction booklet so that she understood what was on the test and how it was structured and scored. Luckily our state legislature decided to have all sophs take the PSAT and paid for them. Once all of her friends were taking it there was much less resistance

. Of course, that didn't mean that she believed me when I told her she shouldn't guess unless she could narrow the number of answers down and she ended up with much lower scores that she's used to---probably the best wake-up call possible!

In addition to NHRP, PSAT prep is really 80% of SAT prep so it helps the kids to do well on their SATs; and it can get them ready to take it relatively early (fall/winter of jr yr) which I'm an advocate for.

OT for this thread, but other things that I think are helpful to start early are: planning class schedules for all 4 years of HS and getting information about URM summer programs.

Youdon'tsay · 10-27-2009, 01:04 PM

Like that thinking, finearts. But I want to make sure parents don't get the impression that they have to pay for test prep. Ds did practice tests from the CB Blue Book the summer before his junior year and leading up to the date. That's all the money we spent. So don't let those you can't or won't pay for the fancy classes feel like all is lost.

And if a kid doesn't even want to work that hard, sign up for the CB SAT Question of the Day.