Based on what the OP mentioned in the first post, it does not look like attending college in Oklahoma or Alabama is of interest due to state-level unfriendliness to LGBTQ+.
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I understand but they mentioned NMF and that’s where the NMF schools are. Like anyone, there are trade offs. It’s up to OP. But they should know the where.
Sorry, I missed that - Reed is indeed quite academically intense.
Here is a list of schools that do offer some monetary awards for National Merit. Awards vary greatly from a few hundred dollars to full rides so check at any schools of interest.
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Totally agree. Fit is the most important thing. You have to be at the school day after day after day,
Alabama makes Princeton reviews student survey driven list of “Unfriendly LGBQ schools” and Alabama is undeniably an extremely red state.
Not to mention the regional nature of the school. We have a North East kid from our town who went to Bama and is now having trouble finding a desirable job close to home. To make end meet he is working at a gym checking people in. Sometimes when you pay free you get your moneys worth. Great school option for some but not for everyone.
Not sure with these being OP’s top choices how University of Alabama is even a consideration. Literally no similarities that I can think of. For example OPs 4 top choices range in size from 1,000-2,300 student while UA has 40,000.
From UA website…
“With around 13,000 students, the UA Greek community comprises 36 percent of the undergraduate student body and is home to 71 social Greek-letter organizations. Since Fall 2011, The University of Alabama has held the coveted honor of being the largest fraternity and sorority community in the nation with regard to overall fraternity and sorority membership.”
Some of the other names mentioned up thread certainly provide a better fit. Perhaps start here per your ask.
Some others such as Vassar, Sarah Lawrence and Bard may be cultural fits.
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My god, people, I acknowledged up front - as it’s not on the list. Several posts ago I said: I understand but they mentioned NMF and that’s where the NMF schools are. Like anyone, there are trade offs. It’s up to OP. But they should know the where.
OP mentioned she’s above the index and said not sure if it’s a factor.
I showed how it will help - nothing else - no need to pile on, especially after I stated that schools mentioned were not on the list…but when someone mentions National Merit, they should be made aware of National Merit offerings.
Especially when an OP says I can pay full - but would love her to receive some merit because she’s the oldest of three.
OPs should hear all options - and they can decide for themselves with 100 people piling on.
Which is why I provided a comprehensive list of ALL of the National Merit schools. So your statement that “that’s where the National Merit schools are” isn’t really accurate. It’s more about providing accurate information and less about “piling on”.
True there are many but most small. The big ones are typically in the south but a few like WASU are in other parts.
The pile on wasn’t directed at you. After the first was said the school didn’t fit and I acknowledged and noted I was just providing the advantage of national merit, more wasn’t needed.
Thanks
I think it useful to provide factual statements when a specific college is brought up that seems to contradict an OPs detailed criteria. In the absence of this context or push back future readers may come away with a false narrative or sense of fit.
We are all entitled to opinions and to post facts even if they sometimes contradict others beliefs that cost trumps all other factors or that one school fits all.
Since U. of Vermont and U. of Michigan were on your original list, @tsbna44’s mention of Washington State is worth taking note of. It offers a full tuition waiver for NMSF students (source). It’s in the eastern half of the state which is more conservative than the western part, but I suspect would still be a welcoming environment.
Another school on the list shared by @Momofthree24 is Whitman, which has many fans here on the forum who think the school would be more popular if located on the east coast. I didn’t see any specifics about what kind of NMF scholarships are available, but Whitman will do a merit aid pre-read prior to applying, and its website indicates that there are merit scholarships of up to $30k, talent based scholarships for students interested in drama (on-stage or backstage), and they also have the Garrett-Sherwood scholarships which don’t have an amount indicated, but that I suspect may be full tuition or more based on the activities that those scholars are a part of and how that parallels activities at other schools who give those types of scholars very large scholarships (source).
Other NMF schools on the list that your D may want to take a closer look at, sorted by range of size, include:
Small
- Illinois Wesleyan: About 1600 undergrads
- Kalamazoo (MI): About 1200 undergrads
- Lawrence (WI, which I think you said she had already nixed): About 1400 undergrads
- Occidental (CA): About 1900 undergrads
- U. of Puget Sound (WA): About 1600 undergrads
Medium
- American (D.C.): About 7800 undergrads
- Marquette (WI): About 7700 undergrads
- U. of Maine: About 9300 undergrads
- U. of St. Thomas (MN): About 6100 undergrads
Large
- U. of Minnesota: About 40k undergrads
- U. of Nevada - Reno: About 18k undergrads
- U. of New Mexico: About 17k undergrads
- U. of Pittsburgh (PA ): About 20k undergrads
- U. of Southern California: About 21k undergrads
- Virginia Commonwealth: About 21k undergrads
And if she’s open to Ohio or being a bit further than 15-20m from a city, then other schools open up like Case Western, Kenyon, St. Olaf, and Gustavus Adolphus. And if Iowa works, Drake (2700 undergrads) in Des Moines could be worth a gander, too.
USC’s NMF award used to be half tuition, but I think they may have been changed in the last year. UNR’s might be something big (@dfbdfb, was your D’s scholarship here because of NMF?), U. of Maine’s used to be big, too, and maybe UNM’s. The others I suspect are going to be relatively small scholarships, but that’s just a guess on my part.
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Yes—and it stacks with their WUE scholarship, though that isn’t of benefit to the OP. (The two together are not quite full OOS tuition.) UNR’s NMF scholarship basically covers in-state tuition.
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Bard would be a good option. It has a very relaxed atmosphere and solid academics. Extremely supportive environment for LGBTQ+ students. Excellent music and theatre programs (including choir!). There are under 2,500 undergraduate students on campus. It is definitely a rural campus but there are three quaint little towns within a school shuttle ride, a larger city about a 15-20-minute shuttle ride away, and an easily-accessible train station for trips into NYC. My D23 is a vocal performance student at the conservatory. Reach out if you have any questions.
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@tsbna44 I knew about Alabama, but it wouldn’t be a good fit for our daughter.
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These are cases in which I don’t mind being wrong at all.
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