A nerdy vibe would be just fine by my son! 
I will look into UTD because I think you’re right that it would feel different and exciting to him.
I’ll look into Michigan State, too! 
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That’s good to know that MyIntuition might run high! I’ve used it for some schools and NPC for others—just depending on how much time I had in the moment. I’ll have to go through and update all the my data with NPC instead.
And to clarify, he’s definitely interested in Alabama. He thinks it’s awesome except for the location. But other determining factors—like its NM package, programs, campus, Honors dorms, etc.—could ultimately outweigh the location factor.
In general, the NPC linked from the college’s financial aid web pages will be the best one to use (although some colleges’ NPCs are not that good).
Be aware that some colleges have changed NPC platforms, so be sure that you are getting the most recent one. For example, there are colleges that may have used (for example) College Raptor NPCs in the past, but switched to College Board NPCs currently, in which case only the latter (as linked from the college web page) would be correct to use.
Also note that if your finances include situations like divorced parents or income other than mostly W-2 and small amounts of interest and investment income or assets like a farm or small business, then an NPC that does not ask about these things may not be that accurate if the college’s actual financial aid depends on that information.
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Great info! Thank you so much!
My two cents is there are quite a few states that basically straddle two, three, or even more different cultural zones, such that parts can be more similar to some states, parts to some other states, and so on.
Like, for example, St Louis and Kansas City feel very different to me. In fact usually I would say St Louis feels closer to a Springfield, or even a Chicago or Cincy, than to KC, which to me feels closer to an Omaha or such.
And then Branson is an entirely different thing to me than either St Louis or KC! And so on.
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If he would be interested, run the NPC on Rice University. The Rice Investment is very generous. They also do some merit $$.
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Congrats to your son on his strong profile!
As he is quite likely to be a National Merit Finalist, I would definitely check out this link.
Below are some schools that I think are highly likely to hit the budget (with more details/rationale in this post):
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Mississippi State: Probably around $9k first year and $17k/year subsequently
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U. of Kansas: Probably around $21k
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U. of New Mexico: Probably around $15k
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New Mexico State: About $3k first and $7k/year subsequently
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Oklahoma State: Nearly a full ride
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U. of Houston: About $11k
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U. of Idaho: Full ride
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U. of Nebraska - Lincoln: About $14k
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U. of Oklahoma: About $9k first year and then about $15k
Also, I believe Washington State gives free tuition to NMF students.
This post also shared some schools where he could try and get some big scholarships (full tuition or full rides):
- U. of Miami
- Villanova
- Wake Forest
- Tulane
- Boston U.
- Duke
- U. of Notre Dame
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That’s so interesting—and a really good point!
Great idea! Rice seems like a great school—I had a couple friends go there and love it. I feel like I ran a calculator on it once, but I can’t remember what it said. I need to do that again!
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Lots of food for thought here! Thank you! Some of these I’ve looked at, and some I haven’t. I’m on my phone right now, but will explore more when I’m at my computer!
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WSU’s NMF scholarship is full tuition, not full ride; net price would likely be around $22k. Idaho’s NMF scholarship includes full tuition and room and board; net price would likely be around $5k.
WSU in Pullman, WA and Idaho in Moscow, ID are near each other, and in many ways similar in terms of local politics (mostly right-leaning other than students/faculty at the universities) and weather. However, state laws in WA mostly reflect a more left-leaning state government compared to state laws in ID that mostly reflect a more right-leaning state government.
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Thanks for the update. I believe they gave full rides a year or two ago, correct? I’ll correct my post.
By the way, when I list prices, I usually do tuition & fees plus the room & board price listed in College Navigator, as colleges vary in how generous they are in giving allowances for books, transportation, miscellaneous expenses, etc. So to make it as even a comparison as I can, those are the figures I use.
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However, those unbilled costs tend to be significantly higher than $0, so they need to be accounted for when students and parents do college budgeting.
Of course, it is true that these costs vary considerably between colleges and between different students at the same college for the following reasons:
- Variation by the actual costs at the college.
- Variation by the actual costs for different majors (e.g. different costs of books and supplies).
- Variation by the frugality of the students at the college.
- Variation by how the college estimates the costs.
- Variation by where the student is traveling from to get to the college.
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UMAINE Orono is a mid-sized public that offers a flagship match for many states. My kid with lower stats could have gone for 27.5k. Great outdoors club and lots of folks into skiing and hiking. Remote location.
I agree with checking out the SUNY schools as someone recommended above.
I think getting under 22k will be very difficult.
Good luck!!
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Thank you so much! Will check out Maine!!
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I would think he would have a great chance at getting into honors at UGA and at FSU and getting scholarships for in-state tuition. I think that might make them affordable and he would be with pretty accomplished cohorts.
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Xavier gave lots of money this year, they added on 5K to my son’s package in the last week before the deadline. I think at the end they offered 37K in merit alone.
I’m also in KY, and I think merit from Vandy or WashU is really a stretch. We have a handful of 36 ACT kids/4.0 from our high school who go to Vandy, and none got merit.
I would look at the St. Olaf, Macalester and Carleton. But unless the NPC shows a really low amount, I would be surprised if your COA would be near 20K. I think S22’s offer from Macalester was going to be COA of 37K with merit and some grant money.
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While Florida no longer offers the Benacquisto scholarship to OOS NMF, some of the individual schools still do offer almost full rides to a limited number of NMF. Look at UCF and USF. I’d pick USF because it is more sciencey and closer to the beach (and I’m not fond of Orlando), but either school is a great deal for NSF. FSU may also have NMF money or other scholarships that would work for your budget.
I’d recommend applying very early as I think they award NMF on a First come, first served basis.
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If he’s considering Miami O, maybe look at Cincinnati. Cincinnati offers in-state tuition to Kentucky residents.
It ticks a lot of his personal boxes, and if he majors in medical sciences he has a pathway to UC medical school (doublecheck that portion but that’s what I remember). UC also has a good honors program.
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Good to know so we can keep expectations in check! Thank you for sharing your perspectives and personal experiences as a fellow Kentuckian!