<p>To kkmom5</p>
<p>I am not restricting National Merit Scholars from the list above. All of the scholarships I list above are open to National Merit Scholars and they make excellent candidates for them. I am restricting scholarships which are only open to National Merit Scholars. </p>
<p>I agree with you that lots of actors are smart, and I don’t doubt that some are National Merit Scholars, I didn’t put National Merit full ride scholarships on my list because I didn’t want to have any full rides that restricted other high achieving students from applying to them. </p>
<p>There are full rides out there that are just for National Merit Scholars. For example, Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN has an audition BFA in musical theatre and each academic year up to ten students who were selected as National Merit Finalists by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation can receive a Lipscomb University scholarship covering tuition, room, board, and the general student fee only (no books). Confirmation from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation is required.</p>
<p>That’s great news, but if you are a student who has academic credentials similar to a National Merit Scholar, but isn’t a National Merit Scholar, you can’t get that scholarship. I wanted to list full rides that were open to any student who meets the school’s gpa and national testing criteria, not those scholarships that added the burden of recognition by another organization.</p>
<p>To Sguit40,</p>
<p>Although, it is certainly possible that a student could lose a full ride scholarship in future years, it is not very probable. The gpa that schools set for renewal for such full ride scholarships is imminently achievable by the students that win these awards. Furthermore, at many schools students can even appeal and give justification for why their gpa fell below the criteria for one semester and are often given the next semester to bring it back up. </p>
<p>Remember, I am only referring to full ride scholarships, there are all kinds of merit scholarships that a student could lose if they don’t meet the renewal criteria. </p>
<p>I do not know what schools do with the merit money when students “drop” the program. But remember, I am listing “advertised” full ride scholarships for academic merit. Few students who are given a full ride scholarship “drop” the college they are attending because most likely they will not receive such significant merit aid as a transfer student at another school. The best time to get merit money is upfront at the start of your academic career. That is where you are most valuable to the college because they have you for four years. Students sometimes find that they even lose money as they progress through their academic career. (Although colleges do try to honor any commitments they made at the start of the freshman year.) </p>
<p>When you say “drop” the program, you make me think you are referring to students in BFA programs who have dropped the BFA program and who were given some merit scholarship money. I don’t know what the colleges do with that money, but I assume that it does go back in the pot for redistribution. And I would guess that most of the money goes to the incoming class to recruit more students. Also keep in mind that there is a difference between talent scholarships and merit scholarships.</p>
<p>Others may have different opinions on these matters. </p>
<p>By the way, The University of Oklahoma offers a $120,00 scholarship (4 years) for non-resident National Merit Scholars. They state “This scholarship does not cover the full cost of attendance.” but it sure comes close. I would consider it very close to a full ride scholarship, although it is not as “set in stone” as full rides found at other institutions. </p>
<p>Oklahoma City University offers a full tuition scholarship to National Merit Finalists, not a full ride. </p>