Class of 2020 National Merit Discussion

carmartwinmom · February 2019

Before September?

Reebtoor · February 2019

My D had to reach out to some of the NM schools. If you are interested in a specific school, sign up for their mailing list. They will not know your kid is necessarily close to NMSF. (Some schools do order mailing lists from the College Board by score level so they might have your kid's info already and start sending them info early.)

We did a couple visits before the NMSF announcement and a couple after. My D has asked to go back to one of the early places because she doesn't remember it well.

So, consider how close/far you are from certain schools and how often you can visit. If you can't visit much, be strategic in your planning.

carmartwinmom · February 2019

Thank you. I will tell him to get on the mailing lists of those he’s most interested in. We are in CT so maybe it’s best to wait it out to visit the FL schools.

Phlipper · February 2019

@carmartwinmom For UCF contact Luke Van Blaricom, he is in charge of their honors/NM students. THe earlier the better. He is very helpful and will send a ton of information. We didn't visit until December of my DD's senior year.

MomOfHSStudent · February 2019

In regards to the Florida Benacquisto Scholarship and OOS students. I live in TN, but I wanted to know more about the NMF scholarships for OOS students so I called the Florida Department of Education last week and I spoke to a rep who said that OOS students are not guaranteed this scholarship and it is reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Those OOS students that are rewarded the scholarship are required to have a Florida residence within the first year. So, FL schools are probably not the best fit for OOS students unless your student plans on taking up permanent residency in FL for their four years of college.

Phlipper · February 2019

@MomOfHSStudent I know that is true for UF, for a number of the other Florida schools like UCF they still guarantee the full ride for 4 years, if the Benaquisto funding falls off they will fund it in other ways. I would reach out to the Florida schools you are interested in. I noted in a post above the contact for UCF. I know Florida residency is not required at UCF.

kforty2 · February 2019

@MomOfHSStudent That is interesting information I hadn't heard yet. My son is a likely NMF this year and is considering U Miami. We're waiting for official notification and then we'll contact them directly for more info on how they handle OOS Benacquisto. When you were told that OOS students weren't guaranteed the scholarship, who is making that decision? The individual schools or the DOE? I also haven't seen anything about in state residency being required. These are definitely issues we'd be concerned about!

vistajay · February 2019

@MomOfHSStudent , I'm sorry that is totally incorrect info. You do not have to be a permanent FL resident within a year to get OOS Benacquisto or continue to receive it. You have to physically reside in Florida or near the campus where enrolled:

A student who is a non-Florida resident seeking initial funding must:
• Earn a high school diploma comparable to a standard Florida high school diploma or its equivalency (or completes a home education program).
• Be a 2018 National Merit® Scholar.
• Enroll at an eligible Florida postsecondary institution during the 2018-19 Fall academic term following high school graduation.
• Physically reside in Florida on or near the institution’s campus where enrolled.

https://www.floridastudentfinancialaidsg.org/PDF/factsheets/FIS.pdf

I can tell you my OOS son is receiving the Benacquisto at FSU and there is no requirement that he become a FL resident. Now, if OOS funding for Benacquisto were ever revoked, then yes maybe there is a pathway to keep the scholarship by becoming a FL legal resident. If that's what you are talking about then fine, but your post is confusing and unnecessarily alarmist.

Also they are guaranteed the scholarship is they are admitted, given a college sponsored NM award (which is also automatic at least as of now), and name the school #1 with NMC.

Le Professionnel · February 2019

@vistajay: Great short and to-the-point explanation, thank you! There is some confusion about the nonresident tuition portion though: If the scholarship disappears due to legislative action or the student's GPA dropping below 3.0, will the student('s parents) be stuck with full OOS bill? Whoever gets an answer from the horse's mouth (Florida DoE), please update...

vistajay · February 2019

If you lose eligibility for the program, or if the program is canceled, and you are an out of state resident, I don't see how you would escape paying OOS tuition for the next semester unless you establish in state legal residency.

PPuggle · February 2019

I'm so glad I stumbled on this post today. I have twins and I think my girls both made the cutoff. We live in FL. The cutoff was 219 last year and they received 225 and 222. We knew about Benacquisto for FL schools and are looking at both UCF and UF as well as GA Tech and some other T20 schools. My daughters think they both want to study CS. What should we do about ranking the schools on the application? To receive Benacquisto, the FL state school you want has to be listed as #1 but that isn't their #1 school out of their list. I don't think their #1 schools offer much for NM finalists though.

Someone earlier asked about CS at UCF. UCF has an excellent program and to be honest, probably better than UF even though UF is the flagship school in the state. In particular, UCF has an amazing Competitive Programming team that has been the top performing US school for the past few years and #1 of North American schools in 2018 in the major international competition (ACM ICPC). They beat all schools like MIT, Stanford, Harvard, etc... They also have a great Cyber Defense team and were #1 nationally a few years ago.

Mamareeb · February 2019

Thank you @vistajay ! I was coming on to respond after reading this post while on the go this morning. The Benacquisto does NOT require OOS to establish residency. It is also hard to imagine UF leaving their NMFs high and dry, so even if they don’t have a complete plan in place I am not that worried. The program just started, I don’t think they will pull the rug out that fast. Maybe caps on numbers, maybe grandfathering students in if things change, but the whole point was to attract OOS NMF and they have barely gotten it started. Also because it is so new, there are of course a few questions and quirks (summer 9 credits being a big one), but I still think it is an incredible deal. Budget looks good for this year. 👍🏻
(We are in WI, 2019 NMF)

vistajay · February 2019

I personally don't think the 9 credit summer requirement at the FL schools is a big deal. Each school is different but there are a lot of ways you can meet the summer requirement, or get exempted from it. For example, FSU recognizes it is onerous to require OOS students to take 9 summer credits at OOS prices, so exemptions are available.

MomOfHSStudent · February 2019

To all, I truly did not try to disseminate false information regarding the Benacquisto Scholarship for OOS students. I really did place a call to the Financial Assistance, Customer Service of Florida State Department of Education, telephone #888-827-2007 last week. I was transferred to a gentlemen named Ernesto who was familiar with this program and it was him who gave me those answers. I will most likely have a NMSF student and think the Florida schools are a great option for those looking for merit-based aid. If you are being told differently by some of the Florida schools, then I will reach out to each of them individually. I would hate for my DD20 or someone else's child miss out on this opportunity. I was trying to be helpful and made an assumption that the rep working for the FL State Dept of Education knew his job:) Shame on me!

vistajay · February 2019

@MomOfHSStudent I certainly don't think you were trying to spread false information. I have received inaccurate info from lots of people, often student interns, in FA offices in the past. My practice is to get everything in writing. When they have to put something in writing, they tend to think about it more or someone higher up reviews it. Congrats on NMF for your child!

oniongrass · February 2019

Yes, U. of Alabama offers full cost of attendance to NMF. And everyone seems to love it there! This year they say they require a 3.0 GPA to keep the scholarship, while I think it was 3.5 before. Maybe they're doing this due to increased competition from Florida schools.

dpBU23 · February 2019

FREE ADVICE to Co2020 parents out there: slow down and enjoy it! Someone said earlier that this is indeed a very long process - a marathon. However, it will go by SOOO quickly.

1> Your D/S take the PSAT
2> you wait for results
3> you stalk Art Sawyer's blog to anticipate cutoffs because let's face it, he is the expert
4> you wait for NMSF notifications and some of you will get frustrated because your schools won't tell you when they get the note; they will make you wait a week for the public announcement
5> you have your D/S take the SAT (or now ACT) for a confirming score
6> you wait for the SAT/ACT results
7> you complete the NMF application, have your D/S submit the essay (and YES, NM lets you reuse one they wrote for another purpose)
8> you submit the NMF application and wait with frustration for a few days while the school submits their part of the paperwork. As an important side note, DON'T FORGET to send the SAT/ACT confirming scores to NM. Every year, some people fail to advance because they forget this required step.
9> while waiting for NMF confirmation, you research tons of schools that provide full tuition or full rides for NMF and get frustrated that a> some of them have changed materially year over year and b> some are not guaranteed for all 4 (or 5) years due to state legislature requirements
10> NM publishes that they mailed certifications to schools (this year 4-Feb) but for some reason it takes 8-10 days for the schools to get them
11> NM sends letters to students houses (this year 11-Feb) which we actually got on the same day as the school got theirs
12> it's now mid February and your student is 3 months away from graduating HS

so again, I encourage parents to slow down and enjoy the time you have at such a significant time in your child's life an if you are so inclined, pray more and worry less. To even be on this site, your students (or you if you are a student) are clearly in the top 2% of HS students and if they (you) make good choices, there is a great future ahead.

all the best to Co2020

signed,
dpBU23. Parent to Co2019 (NMF)

oniongrass · February 2019

We have managed to find enough other, generally stress-inducing but productive, things to keep us more than occupied. Last year it was AP, this year dual enrollment. Do we get to slow down when they're out of the house?

Phlipper · February 2019

@oniongrass no, you do not.

oniongrass · February 2019

vistajay, what's the 9 credit summer requirement for FL schools?

Class of 2020 National Merit Discussion

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