We got accepted UIUC engineering school, in state. So it’s lot cheaper.
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I would love some updates to this thread! Any students (or parents of students) attending one of the Big Merit NMF schools want to give an update?
My own kid (Fordham LC) just finished sophomore year. Doing very well in his Theater major. Also has really enjoyed Forham’s extensive core. He has taken classes in subjects (e.g. theology, philosophy, ethics) that he wouldn’t have thought to take on his own. He was a decent writer prior to college, but is happy and proud to see how much his writing is continuing to strengthen. Has gotten a lot of individualized attention and encouragement from professors in this area. The same for presentations/public speaking. Continues to take advantage of all the city has to offer: art museums, history museums, galleries, botanical gardens, theater, ballet, opera, restaurants. NY is an expensive city, but being on a full scholarship opens up a lot of breathing room.
Will spend this upcoming semester doing study abroad in Tokyo. Again tuition free because his scholarship travels with him. He has been interested in Japanese gardens and Japanese pottery since he was a little boy, so this is like a dream come true.
Anybody else?
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Oh, one disappointment at Fordham: he hasn’t been able to take a class at Rose Hill (the Bronx campus) yet! This has been a bummer because Rose Hill is bigger and offers a lot of classes that interest him. But transportation can take up to an hour between campuses depending on traffic. So a single class at the other campus can eat up almost half a day! This might be fine for certain majors, but as a theater major he is so busy with production hours each evening that he hasn’t been able to fit it in. I think that athletes and certain STEM majors might face the same barrier. Too bad, because the option of 2 campuses seemed great in theory (and for certain students I think it is.)
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Youngest graduated from UTD with his BS and MS in CS last month, totally covered by NM scholarship. I don’t have much to add to prior posts other than the “dream job” really did materialize. He’ll move to Houston next week and he’ll start work a week later. Because he was able to cover both his under grad and graduate degree under UTD’s National Merit scholarship, we were able to take our college savings for him and buy a new car as a graduation gift. Because of UTD’s generous scholarship and the awesome education and opportunities they provided, my son graduated with his MS at 22 yrs old, is starting a job he’s thrilled about, making in the solid 6 figures with amazing benefits, no debit, money in the bank, and a new car. I could not be happier with his decision to accept UTD’s NMS.
I would like to note that the demographic really changed when he moved from undergrad CS classes to graduate class. His graduation session had well over 300 students receiving their masters in CS, of those, less than 8 had Anglo Saxon sounding names, 10-12 had Asian sounding names and the rest all had Indian sounding names, many of those flashed the Indian flag as they walked across the stage and the student speaker did a graduation addressed which was based on a Bollywood movie. Up until the graduation ceremony I had no idea how many Indian CS grad students were at UTD. I asked my son about it and he said he knew there were more Indian students in his graduate classes but didn’t realize just how many there were because his friend group really didn’t change much between under grad and grad school.
My older son also was able to finish his BS and MS completely covered by NM at UTD but he opted to continue with his PhD in CS at UTD. He was awarded the McDermont Graduate Fellowship which not only more than covers his expenses but also gives a generous research/travel budget so he’s been able to attend and present as CS conference around the the world (this semester he’s been to conferences in Abu Dhabi and Pittsburg, PA), all cover by UTD’s very generous fellowship. The fellowship covers 4 years and he’ll be starting his 3rd year in the fall. I’ll have been a UTD mom for 8 years by the time my older son graduates…
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Results Update: My D15 took the half-tuition NMF scholarship at USC and majored in theatre. She graduated with no debt, A couple of years later she went back to get her masters in marketing at USC’s business school. That was not covered by NMF but USC gave her a half tuition scholarship. She does have some debt from her masters, but it is manageable. We were able to get her a car in college due to the money she’d saved us. She works in entertainment marketing in L.A. while also running a theatre company she co-founded. S18 took the full ride Benacquisto NMF scholarship to FSU and majored in music. Since his education costs us pretty much nothing, we bought him a new car in college. He’s a secondary school music teacher now, which he can afford to do because he has no debt of any kind. Planning to go back to graduate school. S22 took the half-tuition NMF scholarship at USC and also earned an alumni scholarship because his sister went there. He is on track to graduate in 4 years with a major in cognitive science and a masters in computer science. No car for him yet but we’ll see, lol. He’ll have no debt. All three are very happy with their school choices.
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My S22 finished his 2nd year at Alabama. He’s having a great time there! He’s in engineering and finds the classes interesting and has met a lot of friends there as well. Alabama only guarantees on campus housing for freshman and those with scholarships. He was moved to an off-campus apartment for year 2 and is staying in the same place for year 3. He is very thankful to not have to hunt for an apartment on his own! Great perk. He’s still very close to campus and the complex has a dedicated bus to take them the mile to campus. He’s very happy with that outcome.
They changed the book scholarship in a positive way for next year. He had a choice to keep it as a credit at the bookstore or have the money added as a stipend. He chose the stipend as now it can cover books from wherever he gets them, which is a huge plus. He had a class last year with the wrong book listed in the bookstore and had to go a couple weeks of back-and-forth getting it corrected before he could buy it with the credit. This eliminates that.
The scholarship also covers full tuition, regardless of how many credits. The flat rate is 12-16 only. So he takes 18 credits some semesters and the scholarship just adjusts and covers it, which is fantastic. He goes light in the fall with football season and then catches up in the spring.
He could finish in 3.5 years, but will stretch to 4 and start graduate classes. The housing is only for undergrads, so it’s worth it to stretch to the full 4 years. He plans on getting a master’s with the 5th year of tuition covered and is hoping to get a stipend/scholarship to cover housing, but we will see.
He’s had an engineering internship both summers and it was last summer when it really hit home how fortunate he is to have the scholarship. Being able to keep the money from work instead of using it to work on loan payback or tuition help, is a huge thing. He knows a lot of kids who work to help pay, and he is happy he doesn’t need to do that.
All in all, it is a great scholarship and he is loving life.
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Results update for D24: graduated from UCF in May with a chemistry degree. She’s always wanted to be a research chemist. She had amazing research opportunities and mentorship in the UCF Chem Department and was accepted everywhere she applied to grad school. She’ll start her PhD work at Princeton next month. The NM scholarship was life changing, and she graduated not only debt free but with a solid savings account since she could save all her research assistant pay. Her younger brother will qualify as NMSF in the next cycle so I’ll be around the forum for a while longer.
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My kid just finished freshman year as a BFA Acting a major at University of Minnesota Twin Cities, and the scholarship stacking is continuing to pay off as an OOS family. The university added on another $4k scholarship before school started on top of the two National Merit related scholarships and National Scholarship and an additional department level scholarship for next year. The theater training is rigorous as my kid hoped, and culture opportunities outside the classroom abundant. Entering the program with a lot of AP credits also means my kid likely will be able to complete a double major in American Studies. One disappointment, is a hoped-for linguistics minor probably won’t pan out due to scheduling conflicts. The Honors program has some nice flexibility my student didn’t expect. Any class can be turned into an Honors course just by asking the professor for an extra project, which has been useful, again because of scheduling challenges. The other con my student experienced is the first advising sessions were not great. The counselors seemed overwhelmed and not always well versed on the particulars of certain programs. Things definitely go much smoother if the student spends some time with the course catalog and is prepared to discuss very specific options. Overall, my kid is pleased with the abundance of opportunities available from attending a large public university and the ability to establish a niche that makes it feel small and personal.
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Looking for info on Auburn OOS NM also! Did you learn anything last year about this?
Bama, not Auburn, is the big $$.
This is Auburn.
- National Merit Finalists receive a stipend of $4,000 over four years at $1,000 per year.
- Depending on eligibility as determined through completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)*, eligible students may receive an additional $1,000 annually.
- National Merit Finalists who are Alabama residents may receive the National Scholars Presidential Scholarship valued at $42,000 over four years at $11,000 per year, which will replace a previously awarded competitive merit scholarship.
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May I ask what sport your daughter is playing at UA? We’re considering UA, my daughter is very active in HS sports but probably won’t be recruited; she does well academically.
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I can’t speak for Dis3456’s daughter’s situation, but I do know that Alabama encourages walk-ons to its rowing team:
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I’m a freshman at ua and have several friends who were very into sports in hs. Feel free to dm me!
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My MN daughter just found out she is a semifinalist. Wondering if anyone can comment on their experience at U Tulsa? (brokemom23??) Thanks!
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I haven’t heard from @brokemom23 lately, not sure she is still on CC. Would love an update from her about her twins and U Tulsa! I have tagged her in this response, so hoping she will come and comment.
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Tulsa was featured on the College Tour, although these programs are highly scripted I think they do help you get a feel for the schools!
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@PresCarsonTulsa Would you like to add any insights?
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Happy to help in any way! Or connect you to students here who can offer their unvarnished view.
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I see that the 6k stipend has gone away. This was an incredible motivator that we were really hoping for, especially for Study Abroad opportunities. Because this is gone, what ways could we circumvent this? What kind of scholarship stacking is available?
Yes, the program proved so successful that we aren’t doing the stipend this year. But it is still free tuition and room and board an books - the total value is well over $250K. There are some need-based scholarships for our pre-frosh study abroad (“Jump Start” in Mexico, Panama, Germany, China), and some others for other study abroad. The scholarship does cover tuition studying abroad.
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