<p>can somebody please explain how we should understand the following letter my son received from University of Arizona:</p>
<p>"Congratulations on your selection as a National Hispanic Finalist, a distinction that places you in the company of recognized scholars from around the nation.</p>
<p>We are pleased to inform you that if you apply to Arizona State University and are admitted, you will receive ASU’s National Hispanic Finalist Scholarship. "</p>
<p>There are no more details other than how much it is - says it’s a cash award in the amount of non-resident tuition for 8 semesters. </p>
<p>Of course they are inviting him to visit this college.</p>
<p>Can somebody please advise if I understand it right ? His tuition will be waived if he is accepted ? </p>
<p>Also, does he absolutely have to visit this college prior to applying ? It was not on his list to apply to, and a trip to Arizona would be awfully expensive for us, but I would like him to apply just in case - money is a very important factor for us. </p>
<p>And finally my last question: is this a good college and is it difficult to get in ? My son wants to major in physics and a good physics program is a priority for him. If someone could compare their Physics to the one in University of Maryland, I would be very grateful.</p>
<p>And, if you have questions about this, a call to Admissions would be perfectly acceptable. Since you mention UMCP- are you in Maryland? Because doesn’t Southwest have cheap flights from Balto out to Phx? Good luck.</p>
<p>no, I am in Virginia. The reason why I asked about UMCP is because this is his first choice school he has a good chance getting into (he is also applying to University of Chicago and MIT, but it’s probably a far reach). My son doesn’t know about this offer yet and I am afraid that free tuition won’t impress him very much if he decides that Physics program is not good enough, this is why I asked.</p>
<p>It is possible that the school might offer to pay for him to come visit if he tells them that he never considered them … the offer in intriguing … he would love to visit the campus, see the physics department to discuss the program, etc … but that he is too far to drive and cannot afford the cost of airfare. It’s worth a try.</p>
<p>In the first post, the writer mentions “University of Arizona” and “ASU”. Those are 2 different schools.</p>
<p>*an somebody please explain how we should understand the following letter my son received from **University of Arizona:
**
"Congratulations on your selection as a National Hispanic Finalist, a distinction that places you in the company of recognized scholars from around the nation.</p>
<p>We are pleased to inform you that if you apply to **Arizona State University **and are admitted, you will receive ASU’s National Hispanic Finalist Scholarship. "*</p>
<p>Actually, as a National Hispanic Finalist, he’ll also get a $30,000 a year scholarship (and a free iPad) from the U. of Arizona. Out-of-state tuition, room and board there is between $33-34,000, so that’s very close to a full ride.</p>
<p>I think the actual school is probably ASU, as was stated in the letter that the OP quoted. Arizona State University is a pretty decent school, and someone up above mentioned their honor’s program. Certainly if finances are a consideration, it’s worth looking into to see if it’s worth it.</p>
<p>I found a national ranking of Physics departments by the number of professional journal citations of its faculty. U. of Arizona was 15th, Maryland 41st, Arizona State 45th.</p>
<p>One of my kids attended U of A. If this is the school, it has an excellent physics program but I would highly recommend a visit. It’s in Tucson so it’s close to the border and that really permeates the culture there. A few things to keep in mind:
the crime off-campus is higher than you’re used to
some kids go across the border to party because they can drink in Mexico at 18yo
The ethnic mix is very different from where you live and I’ve heard from Hispanics not from the area who feel treated poorly there. </p>
<p>UMd is a very good school for physics but it will be harder to get merit money and it’s not cheap out-of-state. However, culturally, it will be an easy transition for a kid from Northern Virginia.</p>
<p>You’re in VA and your son wants to go to UMaryland with OOS costs. Will that be affordable? If you’re not sure that he’ll get enough merit money to make UM affordable, then you probably need back ups.</p>
<p>I would have him look at Auburn. He’d get nearly a free ride there.</p>
<p>Yikes, ASU is nowhere near as good a school as either Auburn or / University of Arizona. Carefully consider the quality of the education that your student will receive after you’ve taken financial consideraitons into account; sometimes you can find comparable merit opportunities at better schools that you could have gotten at the ASU-types. It’s conventional “wisdom” that only crappy schools give good merit aid, but that’s not necesarily true; while I would never dismiss a full-tuition or near-full tuition offer out of hand, see if there are other, better schools (and better fit schools, ha ha!) that offer equally cost-effective merit aid based programs that your son might be able to take advantage to, indexed to his educational par excellent and willingness to gumption as hard as he has currently to achieve the loftiest goal of National Hispanic Merit Scholar and other similarly well-regarded programs of educational superbience.</p>