MT and National Merit scholarships

fallenchemist
Sun, 10 Jan 2010 17:03:52 +0000

mom2them - The March 1 date does not lock in the choice. http://www.nationalmerit.org/Merit_R&I_Leaflet.pdf See page 3. As I read it, you have until almost the end of April to finalize a choice, and even then it looks like there is flexibility until the end of May. I find the whole thing confusing, but my D is a NMF and she didn’t choose her school (Tulane, lol) until after that March 1 date. I am pretty sure she put undecided before that.

I assume you mean FSU and UCF are VERY selective for the MT program. I imagine most schools that have a program like that are. It is kind of a shame she is not interested in Tulane because if she gets the kind of test scores as a junior she is no doubt capable of, combined with her grades and talent she would most likely get a good scholarship, although full tuition is always tough to get. Anyway, moot point. My strong suggestion for her is to look at Arizona State University. If she makes it as a NMF, they give OOS more than full tuition. For example, last year OOS tuition was about $18K and the NMF scholarship was $23K, I think it was. So it even covered part of room and board. With her grades and hopeful test scores, she could get into Barrett Honors College, which is really nice. It is like having a smaller liberal arts university right on the campus of a large research university with all it’s resources. Barrett students have their own section of campus with their own dorm, dining hall, some classrooms, a gym, and maybe some other amenities. It is a great deal. Here are the two links you need to look into it. When the time comes you would need to contact ASU about their current scholarship levels, because they do vary depending on what year you are admitted for incoming freshmen, but then they are guaranteed for the 4 years as long as the student maintains grades, etc.

[Lyric Opera Theatre | School of Music | ASU Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts](http://music.asu.edu/lot/)

[Barrett Honors](Barrett, The Honors College | Arizona State University)

Sounds like it would meet all her (and your) requirements. Great program, excellent academics, and affordable as long as she gets that NMF status. Well, it isn’t in the south, but Southwest flies cheap from Phoenix to New Orleans.