NMF schools with total or near total COA ... not in Florida

I think she will fine come March 31, despite all the talk in November, most of her friends will be going to UNLV, Ariz, Ariz State or maybe a California school. There is always lots of talk of Ivies and ND and Duke and Stanford, but in the end most stay close to home because the money isn’t there to go elsewhere. We even had one considering Ave Maria, and it was just too expensive.

The grass is not always greener, but the money you have to pay for OOS is plenty green.

The University of Idaho offers full ride scholarships for NMF:

https://www.uidaho.edu/financial-aid/scholarships/undergraduate/hs-non-resident

Look at those schools that give full rides or full tuition to National Merit Finalists. Those are where she can most likely cash in on her achievement. That list is shrinking every year. Fordham is a fine school, IMO, as is Temple I’m very familiar with both.

Also google “82 Colleges with Full Ride Scholarships.” That will give you a list of schools that give big merit awards. The Ivy League schools do not give merit scholarships. So their NPCs will give you a good idea what you can be asked to pay. With a $50k EFC, you aren’t going to get the cost down to $10k, not even $20k.

At least schools like Duke, Chicago, Hopkins, Vanderbilt, Emory HAVE big money scholarships—though the chances are slim of getting any of them. Getting in is even a challenge, but slim is better than none. Waste of time applying to a school that has zero merit money to give

Some LACs like Davidson and Wash&Lee give out some heft merit too. Tulane also a contender. UDenver, UTulsa , Pitt, UMD give out some awards too, though fewer each year, it seems. Pitt is really tightening up but they are still giving out names scholarships.

@CrackintoPieces I think your D has a very good chance of receiving a full tuition merit scholarship at Temple U. My youngest attends and loves it!

Consider checking out the University of Richmond in VA. They offer 25 full ride scholarships to incoming freshmen. Certainly no guarantees for your D, but her stats/activities are strong. My other 2 children attended UR, one on a full ride, the other with a full tuition scholarship (offered in previous years). Info here:
https://scholars.richmond.edu/about/index.html
https://admissions.richmond.edu/studentprofile/index.html
Richmond Scholar app deadline is Dec. 1.

They do offer small NMF scholarships, also, my Ds both received those awards.

UR has approx. 3k students, with a beautiful campus located 10 minutes from downtown Richmond. It is an artsy, foodie, fun city, with nice museums, festivals, concerts, etc. Yes, it is in the “South”, but it has transplants from all over. Richmond has 4 seasons, is pretty hot and humid in the summer, and gets occasional snow in the winter.

UR’s admission rate is around 30%, and it has wonderful academic opportunities, small classes, excellent professors and advising.

In 2018, UR had the highest# of Fullbright scholars for an institution of its size. It regularly produces Goldwater scholars, too.

If you care about rankings, UR is #23 on USNWR’s list of national liberal arts colleges.

I too think by end of March everything will be just fine … we will get there!

Her HS is a bit odd. STEM magnet inside a zone school, class of 870 with 200 in the magnet program … Right now her class has 19 NMSF, last year they sent 22 students to Ivies plus Stanford/Berkley … she feels a lot of pressure from peers and school faculty.

Nice to hear more confirmation about Temple … one of her friends from HS class of 19 is a freshman there and got a near full ride (reportedly full tuition and $3000 towards R&B) … with a higher EFC than we have and similar stats but slightly lower test scores. Daughter loved her visit there and her friend is very happy and thriving.

I have no idea where my daughter got her anti-southern bent … I went to Emory for grad school and loved my time in the south.

Will have her look at UR … sounds like one of those hidden gems, but pretty competitive for those scholarships.

Thanks!

That list isn’t realistic. With a budget of 10k a year, that wipes out pretty much everything except UNLV or UNR. Every other school is either out of state or a private university. UT-Dallas is a good choice for a potential scholarship, but they’re competitive. It’s the same story with Univ of KY. UT-Dallas is NOT a liberal arts school, though. It’s a STEM-heavy Dallas suburb nerdy commuter school with zero school spirit. If she’s looking for a college experience, she’d be better off at UNLV.

I’m not sure her dream of the east coast is doable. The east coast is a very over represented part of the country, so scholarship money to make those schools affordable won’t be an option. Schools over there are highly competitive and very expensive.

@CrackintoPieces

U of New Mexico offers auto full ride for NMF, if not too close to home.

Ohio State and U of Maryland offer some very competitive full tuition scholarships (maybe full ride?); separate application required. Check deadlines, may be fast approaching.

T-20 schools with full tuition, highly competitive scholarships by separate application: Vanderbilt, Wash U.

Even with full tuition covered, room/board/expenses these days will run you 15K or more but if your child takes out the federal student loan and/or works part time during the school year and over summers, this is doable on your budget.

For east coast, Fordham seems like a good bet as it historically has offered generous merit for NMF.

Good luck!

@CrackintoPieces
Virginia Commonwealth University, one of VA’s public Unis, with 31k students, is also in Richmond, so there are lots of students in the area.

Perhaps your D has a stereotypical view of southern universities having only bigoted, conservative, students and professors. Definitely not true at UR! There is a wide range of political viewpoints and background on campus, and civil debate and discussion is encouraged.

The city and surrounding area lean liberal politically compared to other areas in VA. UR is also very supportive of the LGBQT community, with extra resources and mentors available to students. The current UR president is african american, and over the last several years, he has been working with the UR administration to increase racial and financial diversity.

I don’t think you noticed that she is NMSF, likely NMF … UKY, UTD give automatic full COA plus stipends

I also have concerns whether UTD is a decent fit for her … but she is uber nerdy which is one of her charms … she is just not STEM (although she is in her 3rd year of Calc … took AB as a soph, BC as a junior, and now taking Calc3 at UNLV)

Thanks!

I keep pushing tOSU … my father was a history prof there for 30 years and that is home to me … she will not listen to that!

From what I can see if we can get a full tuition merit scholarship, between us and her contribution we can likely handle R&B …

UKy is not a full ride. Please stop saying that.

Okay … it is Full out of state tuition, plus $10,000 housing stipend per year for 4 years … you are left with very little that is not covered … but yes, not entirely COA

If you can convince her to just LOOK at UCF, I think even the travel to look at the school is paid for. Hey, sell it as a free weekend. There are a few posters on CC who rave about the honors progam and Luke, the guy who coordinates everything. Lots of perks for the NMF/honors people.

I’m not a big Orlando fan, but every single kid I know who attends/attended UCF loves it. My high stats nephew wouldn’t even look at FSU but loved UCF (attended UF). Why not take the free trip?

Isn’t the housing stipend only for 2 years? (Well, 2 years for the Otis Singletary and 1 year for the NMF scholarship.)

Hi @CrackintoPieces! Thought I would add another option to be considered. The University of Oklahoma has a generous out-of-state NMF package (http://www.ou.edu/content/dam/recruitment/downloads/national-merit-package-2020-non-resident.pdf), has more of a midwest feel than southern to me and has a long running history of national championships in debate. Both of our NMFs DDs are at OU now. Our oldest is studying international relations (I think you mentioned that as a possibility for your DD?) and our youngest is majoring in professional writing. Feel free to reach out if I might be able to help in any way.

OU NMF package leaves around $16k per year. No longer the great deal it was in the past.

Your daughter might want to consider applying to the McDermott Program at UTD. My daughter regrets not applying. She is in her fourth year on the NM scholarship and has loved UTD. She will be graduating with a Masters in Cognitive Science, a minor in computer science and a minor in fine arts. UTD was one of a few places that would allow her to take classes in whatever areas she wanted. Her one regret is that she did not try to be a McDermott.

@CrackintoPieces

Free advice. Please tell your daughter to stop discussing college and college applications and schools with others. If the subject comes up, she can politely say “my applications are in process and I will be happy to share my final choice in May”. Repeat as often as necessary…and this includes with relatives.

It does her no good to listen to what others are doing or where they are applying.

She will thrive wherever she attends college. It doesn’t have to be a famous name school.

First, check out U of Miami. She will get the NMF award from the state (same $ amount the state pays if she goes to U of Florida) plus they stack merit money. U of Miami isn’t U of Chicago, but it has a fancy feel. :slight_smile:

As for the SEC schools, let me help y’all… UK and UF are about the same amount of Southern. Both have roots in the South, but plenty of residents and students from all over. FSU is more Southern, but UCF isn’t Southern at all. Maybe you can get her to apply to UCF and UF, and visit if she is accepted. UF is a great school, UCF pampers NMF students, and they’re both free!

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