GUEST STUDENT OF THE WEEK: Rohan is a freshman at Dartmouth (and loves it) having gotten in ED for the Class of 2023. He's here to debunk myths regarding admissions and student life at his school. ASK HIM ANYTHING!
Make sure to check out our May Checklists for HS Juniors and HS Seniors. Consult these quick resources to get you started on the process this month.
As we work to adjust to the current reality, make sure to check out these dedicated COVID-19 resources: our directory of virtual campus tours, our directory of extended deadlines, as well as the list of schools going test optional this fall.
Replies to: Class of 2020 National Merit Discussion
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.
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.
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.
(We are in WI, 2019 NMF)
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)