Thank you everyone for sharing, I am getting a clearer picture of how to go about making a list.
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Could you please clarify if you qualify for any need based aid? That will further help guide suggestions.
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We do not qualify for need based aid.
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15k of pure merit is tough when you combine that requirement with pure math through graduate level ā because itād require more than a full tuition scholarship. The above suggestions are all good and NMSF/NMF may provide enough choices.
(In addition, if he wants to complete a PHD at a ātopā school these programs can be snobbish in how they recruit. You can look up or email PHD programs for the undergraduate institutions and each number per college at the programs that might become of interest.)
Thinking out of the box: He could always try a program abroad although heād need a scholarship (these programs claim they offer some/generous based on merit) - Maths with some Physics and CS, not much else. Advanced from the get-go.
In Canada, top Euclid scorers can get good scholarships (up to full tuition but living expenses may be less than R&B at a US university) at Waterloo
UBC, UT and McGill also have scholarships though their rules differ (at McGill you can only apply after being admitted).
In the UK, top maths ācoursesā (programs) are very focused and intense - all math, all the time:
Oxford, Imperial, Warwick, St Andrews, Edinburgh or Bath or Durham would be the best ones (scholarships are available but no fixed amounts are guaranteed.)
https://www.imperial.ac.uk/study/courses/undergraduate/mathematics-bsc/
https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/subjects/mathematics/
In Ireland (tuition is ~25-30k)
https://www.ucd.ie/mathstat/
https://www.maths.tcd.ie/undergraduate/
In France, program in English, lots of pure math (tuition is ~20k, not sure if there are full tuition scholarships but they do offer some; living expenses 7-10k, guaranteed housing grants.)
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Wow- thanks for all the information!
This seems the most straightforward way to meet budget (with no need), but I love the suggestions from the hive.
For what itās worth, I have a family member who accepted the NMF full ride at UTD. Heāll start in the fall and is studying pure math. So if that makes your cut, I can provide some feedback after fall semester.
Best of luck.
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If youāre looking for some sure things, these are some schools in the western half of the U.S. that would meet your budget and that offer a PhD in math.
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New Mexico State: NMF covers full tuition + $5k/year stipend and an additional $4k for housing the first year. So this would be about $3k for the first year and then about $7k/year for subsequent years. Hereās its math website: https://math.nmsu.edu/
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Oklahoma State: NMF covers tuition, $6500/year toward housing, about another $4k/year in stipends, and an additional $3k for the first year. Essentially, this comes very close to a full ride. Hereās its math department: Department of Mathematics | Oklahoma State University
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U. of Houston: NMF would cover tuition & fees, leaving about $11k for room & board. Hereās the math department: Department of Mathematics - University of Houston
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U. of Idaho: NMF would bring a full ride here. Hereās the math department: Department of Mathematics and Statistical Science - College of Science - University of Idaho
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U. of Nebraska - Lincoln: If he becomes a NMF then he would get free tuition here, leaving room & board costs of around $14k/year. Hereās its math department: https://math.unl.edu/
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U. of Oklahoma: It has a rather complex NMF award, but essentially it looks like youād pay about $8k/year for tuition (itās $2k off of in-state tuition) and all years would get a reduction of $5500/year for room & board & books, which would bring the costs down to about $16k/year. But the first year thereās an additional $5k for housing and thereās an additional cash stipend (average of about $1250/year) and first year NMFs get an additional $1k. So it wonāt be the least expensive NMF offer, but it is one that will bring the school within budget. Hereās its math department: https://math.ou.edu/
UT - Dallas and Texas Tech have already been mentioned and should be within budget (and Iām too tired to keep pulling the numbers/sites). I would take a careful look at Washington Stateās course offerings. In College Navigator (the fedās website based on IPEDS data) the math offerings were listed as applied math rather than just regular math, but it might have been a coding error on their end.
From my review of the schoolsā websites, these institutions would not provide sufficient automatic merit aid to bring these schools within budget. Whether they have competitive scholarships of sufficient size, I do not know:
- Colorado State
- Kansas State
- Montana State
- North Dakota State
- U. of Hawaii at Manoa
- U. of Kansas
- U. of Montana
- U. of Nevada ā Reno
- U. of New Mexico (its website no longer listed a scholarship for NMF award)
- U. of Utah
- U. of Wyoming
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Thank you very much for the suggestions and for pointing out places that might not meet our needs. I very much appreciate it!
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Are they a Junior?
Yep
So they are not yet National Merit Semi-Finalists, at least officially, though if their SI is high enough, it is almost a sure thing. Is their SI higher than the predicted SI of the state (you said āWest Coastā, so that could be 220, 222, or 223)? If itās 225 or higher, you can assume that your kid is NMSF, no matter what state you are in.
Remember, though, that to move on to National Merit Finalist, your kid will need to apply, and will require the signature of their principal and counselor, a confirming SAT/ACT score, good academics, and a clean record. They have the confirming score already, their academics are there, no suspensions or anything else. That means that you just need to make sure that your kid submits their applications as soon as the official results come out in September.
I have heard of kids who were not notified because of mess ups, and missed the opportunity to submit their applications, so I would recommend that, if your kidās SI is indeed above the cutoff, and you havenāt received anything in the mail or from your kidās counselor, contact first the school and then the National Merit Foundation to see what happened.
If you want to know more or discuss it with other people on CC - there is a forum for it, and you probably want to follow this thread: Class of 2025 National Merit Discussion
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SI is above the cutoff, Iāll check out the link- thanks!
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How do you know? You will be surprised how some of wealthy privates define āmiddle classā.
Consider honors math programs in public universities.
MSU has an Advanced Math major with lots of honor upper level classes.
The regular OOS merit
wonāt bring it below $15K, but your child may be able to win one of the big scholarships. There is also a NMS scholarship for selected OOS students that covers food and housing.
https://admissions.msu.edu/cost-aid-old/scholarships/first-year/high-achieving
There is also professorial assistantship which is another 4K/per year
Another option would be UTK honors program. UTK also has a competitive scholarship that could be worth trying for and automatic merit and smaller math scholarships
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I appreciate the question asked and the responses. Our son has a chance to be in a similar situation. Our research has turned up many of the options already mentioned. There are a couple I will add. On the Western side of the US, Northern Arizona (NAU) offers full tuition plus a small housing allowance. It looks like a great location if you love the outdoors and mountains. The University of Louisville offers $28k to OOS National Merit Semifinalist which covers almost all tuition and fees. Not sure if these two stack up in Math compared to other options. Good luck.
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Have you run Net Price Calculators to confirm this or is this based on an āeducated guessā of your finances?
Since lots of people will read through the thread, not just the OP, I will also add that just because your state flagship net price calculator showed you were full pay (no federal or state aid besides loans) that may not be the case at the most generous colleges. I like to suggest people run the net price calculator at Harvard. Itās easy to use and incredibly generous (usually beating the EFC/SAI from FAFSA).
For example, an Oregon family of 3, 1 in college, annual income $150,000 and $60,000 in the bank would have a family contribution of $15,300 and a student contribution of $3,500. Note that the estimate is also including an estimate for personal expenses, books and travel. Net Price Calculator
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If, due to price, your student ends up at a less than ideal school for pure math, one consideration might be National Student Exchange. NSE allows up to 1 year of exchange at any participating school, paying no more than what the student is paying already at the home institution. Some schools strong in pure math (including UMN and Stony Brook listed above) participate. Of course a downside may be that an exchange may not allow for the same level of faculty mentoring over the long term, Iām not sure because math isnāt my area of expertise (perhaps others more versed in pure math could weigh in.)
https://nse.org/exchange/colleges-universities/alpha-location/
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