<p>What are the smallest schools, public or private, that offer substantial NMF scholarships–at least half-tuition, let’s say? I know about University of Minnesota - Morris (guaranteed full tuition) and Denison U (competitive full tuition); are there any others? Total undergrad pop. must be <16k students.</p>
<p>Does such a school exist?</p>
<p>I don’t think anyone would call USC “small,” but you mention the figure of “16K” undergraduates - USC has 16,500 undergraduates [About</a> USC - USC at a Glance](<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/about/ataglance/]About”>http://www.usc.edu/about/ataglance/)</p>
<p>and offers a 1/2 tuition scholarship to admitted NMFs [USC</a> Financial Aid - Grants & Scholarships - Undergraduate - Freshmen Only Scholarships](<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/admission/fa/grants_scholarships/undergraduates/meritbasedfo.html]USC”>http://www.usc.edu/admission/fa/grants_scholarships/undergraduates/meritbasedfo.html) .</p>
<p>16k is the size of my state flagship, where I am guaranteed admission, so any school larger than that is out. It is, of course, not exactly “small”; but I’m trying to set the standards as high as I can.</p>
<p>Well, if you are at all interested in the NMF scholarship at slightly-larger-than-your-flagship University of Southern California, look into the “Thematic Option” honors program. It is their honors GE curriculum and offers an amazing educational experience. The “standards” are fairly high: applicants must have a 2250 SAT and over 4.0 GPA to be invited to apply to the program, and only 200 students are accepted.</p>
<p>(Note: admission to USC and/or Thematic Option is NOT guaranteed to NMFs. Only accepted NMFs receive the scholarship.)</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure all of these offer full tuition scholarships for NMFs:</p>
<p>University of Tulsa. The smallest Division I school. Lovely campus. 3050 undergrads
Baylor. Another lovely campus. Around 11,000 students
Texas Christian U in Ft. Worth - about 7200 undergrads</p>
<p><3 Fordham.</p>
<p>Full-scholarship.</p>
<p>How big is the sports/party/Greek scene at USC and UTulsa? Regarding the latter, “smallest D1 school” scares me away! I despise football with a passion and am generally apathetic about other spectator sports.</p>
<p>University of Rochester</p>
<p>Fordham appears to place NMFs in a pool with other top applicants for the top merit awards. UR doesn’t offer significant NMF scholarships that I can find.</p>
<p>Have some propaganda:</p>
<p>[Fordham</a> Draws Record Number of National Merit Scholars](<a href=“http://www.fordham.edu/campus_resources/enewsroom/archives/archive_1147.asp]Fordham”>http://www.fordham.edu/campus_resources/enewsroom/archives/archive_1147.asp)</p>
<p>It doesn’t place you in a pool, by the way.</p>
<p>If you are a NMSF/NMF/NMS, you automatically receive full-tuition and room when you are admitted.</p>
<p>Sports/Party/Greek scene at USC:</p>
<p>If you despise football, you would despise Saturdays on campus during football season. The other six days of the week you could be oblivious to it, but on Saturday the campus is completely crowded with alumni.</p>
<p>Parties: Always available. The school is large enough that it is easy to choose whether to participate or not.</p>
<p>Greek: About 20% of students are involved - meaning 80% are not. So it is easy to be a part of and easy to avoid completely.</p>
<p>***I want to second the mention of the Thematic Option Honors Program above - it is a great program and has exceeded my expectations.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>^^ On Fordham, according to that particular piece of propaganda, 31 NMFs enrolled at Fordham and 26 were given full scholarships. Those are excellent odds, but I would still classify it as “competitive” like Denison’s. The scholarship page itself is somewhat confusing.</p>
<p>tocollege: How does USC feel size-wise? Could one find an LAC-like sense of tight-knit community, or is it more like a state flagship on steroids?</p>
<p>I am in Thematic Option (TO), and it is VERY tight-knit and LAC-like. My TO classes so far have had between 8 and 14 students, and there are private writing tutorials every other week with my professor. The students are amazing - sometimes I can’t believe I am considered one of them. As a group, TO students get to attend theater, cultural events, etc. and USC pays for it and provides transportation. </p>
<p>There are certainly (non-TO) students who work very hard to find the “easiest” classes and do the bare minimum, but the size of the school is an advantage in that you can easily find your own niche.</p>
<p>I am in California, so my state flagships are Cal and UCLA. They are both considerably larger than USC - about 23,000-25,000 undergraduates - so USC seems much more personal compared to them.</p>
<p>*You probably already know this, but I’ll mention it for any others who might not: USC is private - not a part of the UC system at all.</p>
<p>I’m a USC parent, and concur with the above posts. My S is NMF, in Thematic Option (TO). I was worried that the school would be too big and too Greek and too sports-crazed, but it’s actually been an amazing experience for my son. He won’t join a frat, but he likes the challenge of trying to get into the frat parties. He’s never watched football in his life, but he now is a fan - the USC football team is too good to be truly exciting to watch (there’s not always enough competition), but the games are really a spectacle and a good excuse to socialize and hang out in the sun all day. Thanks to Thematic Option, he’s had some very small classes taught by great profs, and his classmates are really smart. Outside of TO, he really enjoys the interesting, smart and creative kids he’s met through dorm life and other activities. He loves his dorm, which also offers cultural experiences, outings, dinners and interesting speakers. Several professors actually live in his dorm, and invite kids over just to watch a game or have dinner and hear a guest speaker. </p>
<p>When he was home for break, his one bit of advice to his younger sister was not to attend a small college in an isolated location. He’s been amazed at his high school friends’ reports that all they do is drink - at their highly regarded LACs and Ivy league colleges alike. That has not been his experience at SC - there’s too much going on for that to be the focal point.</p>
<p>Thanks for the anecdote, FauxNom. I don’t think I’m quite the socialite your son is, even on the relative scale–I tend more toward snuggling up in my bed reading or playing text-based MUDs online, I stand around awkwardly at parties/dances, and I am a firm teetotaler–but I’m glad to hear so much consistent praise for TO.</p>
<p>Oklahoma City University
Full Ride
around 3500 students</p>