<p>crazy…Gotcha. The only one I can tell you for sure (and this is based only on our experience) is the University of Minnesota. As I mentioned, they have $11K per year guaranteed NM money, and a pretty good number of University wide merit scholarships that anyone who applies to the University will be considered for.</p>
<p>Our FAFSA EFC came out around $30K which is higher than U of Minn’s COA, but our D1 was awarded 3 additional yearly merit scholarships plus a one time undergraduate research grant. The additional scholarships brings us very close to full COA. They allow any outside scholarships to be applied to the students’ account, and will refund any amount that exceeds COA to the student. U of Minn’s application was very easy (no essays) and of all the schools we interacted with during the past several months they were far and away the most friendly and helpful.</p>
<p>Additionally, many of their merit scholarships requirements are based on more objective criteria than some other schools (GPA, class rank, test scores, etc.). There’s obviously still a holistic component to it (contribution to diversity, etc.) but if you meet the objective criteria, meet the priority consideration deadlines, and demonstrate an interest in the school there’s a good chance you’ll receive some additional merit money. Here’s a link to their scholarship page, as well as a link with some contact info for Christine O’Shea Foster, the NM recruiter at U of Minn (bottom of the page). Good Luck!!</p>
<p>BTW…we’re OOS from MI, and U of Minn is probably one of the best OOS deals in the country. Hope that doesn’t change!!</p>
<p>[University-Wide</a> Scholarships](<a href=“http://admissions.tc.umn.edu/costsaid/schol_campus.html]University-Wide”>University-Wide Academic Scholarships | Office of Admissions)</p>
<p>[Information</a> for National Merit Semifinalists](<a href=“http://admissions.tc.umn.edu/nationalmerit/]Information”>http://admissions.tc.umn.edu/nationalmerit/)</p>