Your daughter is obviously very bright. There are also some questions that obviously need to be investigated by the family with the daughter and with appropriate outside personnel, which have already been raised.
I just want to emphasize the fact that there are a number of options that can be affordable for a kid like your D beyond the very low admit schools. (I also agree with those who say that sub-10% admit schools are probably a waste of time, and sub-20% admit schools are highly unlikely, and would probably be the last applications I would submit in case your D gets application fatigue, as the chances at these schools are perhaps not nonexistent, but definitely less than 5%, IMO.)
These are schools that give very generous awards to students who attain NMSF status, in addition to U. of Tulsa which has already been mentioned. If we learn more about your Dās preferences, we could potentially find more, but these are listed here for illustrative purposes:
Northern Arizona: As a NMSF, your student would qualify for free tuition (source).
U. of Maine: As a NMSF, your student would qualify for free tuition, and if she applies EA, then she may get $3-5k extra per year (source).
U. of Mississippi: Qualifies for tuition & fees plus a double room in the dorms as a NMSF (source)
U. of Southern Mississippi: Qualifies for tuition and, for freshman year, free room & board as a NMSF (source)
U. of Texas - Dallas: NMSFs qualify for free tuition and entry into the honors college (source)
Washington State: NMSFs qualify for free tuition here (source)
Then there are schools that may not claim to meet full need, but that are still pretty generous in defining need (below are some for illustrative purposes). Some small schools you may want to run the NPCs at include:
College of Wooster (OH)
Hendrix (AR)
Kalamazoo (MI)ā¦really look into this one because of the very minimal distribution requirementsā¦I think itās about 1 writing-intensive class.
And then there are schools with merit charts that could also potentially be a good fit (again, illustrative purposes only):
South Dakota School of Mines: A 36ACT qualifies for a $7k/year scholarship at this well-respected school with about 2200 undergradsā¦bringing tuition, room & board to about $18k (source + College Navigator)
All of this to say, there are options for your D. But it will be important to know why your D had the struggles she did during 10th grade, whether those struggles have been identified and overcome, and what it is your D actually wants out of a postsecondary education.
Agree completely. And honestly, I think this will be the case at most competitive schools. The 36 on the ACT will get their attention, but often a very high test score with very low grades will have a negative connotation not a positive one. Plus, you have to consider the strength of the applicant pool. UGA just posted that of the roughly 13,500 in state applicants for early admission, over 9000 of them have a 4.0 GPA or higher. I can imagine that the UVA and UNC applicant pool is even stronger. Getting past a holistic review with multiple Cs and Dās on your transcript is highly unlikely at a competitive school. Too many other highly qualified applicants.
Also agree with the suggestion to keep these type of longshot Hail Mary low acceptance rate schools towards the end of the application preparation schedule. Application fatigue is real and essay writing fatigue is real, particularly for kids that are highly STEM focused.
Wooster is not only a great suggestion, but also a great example of why the idea that a research university is necessary for undergrad research opportunities is a misconception: Mentored Research ā The College of Wooster
OP, weāve already belabored the fact that none of us really knows whatās going on with your student, what she wants from college, and therefore what kind of environment would be best for her. But Wooster is an example of a school that brings together the advantages of a small school, with the attendant individual attention and flexibility, with a strong focus on research. Out of all the hypothetical young people your daughter might be, based one what little we know, some of them might thrive at a school like this! (Whereas others would be better off living at home and attending Local State U. We canāt know. But the belief that Local State U would automatically be better than any LAC, research-wise, is flawed.)
Lawrence U and Beloit College, both in Wisconsin, could also be added to the Wooster/Hendrix/Kalamazoo list. Lawrence is known for offering tutorial classes; students can basically invent the courses they want and pursue them with 1:1 faculty mentorship. Again, we have no idea whether this kind of flexible structure would be a plus for your student, or whether she does better with predetermined structures that do not require her to be self-directed.
Re: UT-Dallas - I didnāt realize that NMSF get full tuition even if they donāt advance to finalist - thanks for pointing that out, @AustenNut! It seems as if this family might need the full NMF scholarship to afford this school, but full-tuition is nothing to sneeze at, and itās an excellent school for STEM research.
Thanks. Looking for example here (Bama) Enrollment Timeline | Undergraduate Admissions it looks likes one could theoretically wait until after that. missing this āAfter December 5 ā Admission applications considered on a space-available basisā but in time for this āMay 1 ā Automatic merit scholarship deadline for admitted studentsā. I might be prudent to submit earlier, but that takes time/effort, and if we would only go for the NMF level award (not sure), and if we thought D27 had low chance of getting NMF, then it could make sense to wait.
P.S. Everyone, Iām reading, and looking into the various suggestions, and will comment later.
You can apply - and then put them as #1 if you get it (and have a 3.5).
Students must have at least a 3.5 GPA after completion of their junior year and list The University of Alabama as their college of choice with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation before May 1, 2026.
So you might reach out and ask them to be sure - but yes, apply sooner and then note them as the top choice if they are the top choice.
The Alabama app is not difficult. No essay if you do their own app instead of Common App. There are places to list activities and honors and the rest is just basic info about the student and family. And there is a week in October where it is free to apply. You might want to send it then just to have it done.
I meant, wait for NMF notification (in Feb) and then applying after that (only if NMF). Itās very late (after many schoolsā RD deadlines) but NMF schools may still be taking apps.
You absolutely want to apply before Dec1 to benefit from the Honors college and most importantly apply to the honors-within-honors programs&their scholarships.
The application itself is very easy and could be completed in late July then submitted during āfree app weekā.
Can you not go ahead and apply to the University of Alabama before national merit finalist comes out? I think that is what is being suggested. Just apply on the Alabama website. No essays for regular admission and I believe it is rolling so she should hear ASAP. You can then rank them on the national merit finalist thing later.
Okay, it looks like D27 should apply to Bama, and several other NM(S)F schools, early (in Fall 2026 for Fall 2027 admission), for all the reasons given. If these apps process quickly (e.g. if rolling?) then this could be some good early feedback. The apps couldnāt include Fall 2026 grades, but these NM(S)F arenāt the extremely selective level, so good chance of admission, despite flaws.
Just know - they have a boat load of smart kids - amongst the most NMFs if not the most in the country but also relatively easy standards.
If you were to apply to a Pitt, it would tell you a bit more - but whatās the point- you canāt afford it.
Besides, weāve seen examples - a student in at MIT but not BU and in at UCB but not San Diego State.
Colleges decide independently.
No doubt kids are at Ivy but turned down at various publics - beyond the Michigan, UVA, UNC, types, etc.
But getting one in the win column is always good - but given your budget (not sure what it is but it sounds like itās low), if youāre going to be NMF, yep, get int he school quickly.
itās the 3.5 Iām still unsure of.
Are they 3.5 unweighted on the HS transcript?
Iām not sure if they are looking at unweighted or weighted - so I contact them and ask. I put up the info earlier.
The quicker you reach out the quicker you can dial into whether the student will qualify for the scholarship or not.
Whatās her weighted GPA? I believe Alabama takes whatever is on the transcript for scholarships. I am sure Iāve seen that in the past, but can not find it now. If itās weighted and 4.0+ and the 36 ACT is accepted by them (not sure if they have a time cut-off), then sheād have 4 years of tuition, 1 year of room, and a $1,500/year stipend for 4 years.
Sounds like a good plan. My kids applied to Alabama and Clemson. Neither require an essay (except for honors college). They did it as soon as the applications opened in August. For Alabama, I think they knew within a couple of weeks. Clemson is not rolling, but it was nice to get that application in as well.
OP mentioned research so the student might be interested in this program.
I feel like guidance here is to have the sure thing done and OP did sort of start that bit lesser ranked or less selective does not mean less opportunity.
This is a highly sought after program. You donāt need to be in it to do research but obviously it eases the path.
App deadline is a month or so away.
So yea to locking up the sure thing but donāt assume those schools canāt provide you everything and sometimes more that other more selective schools will provide.
In Bamaās case because of the crazy merit Ivy and top level kids abound all over campus. Other flagships have them too. Saving $275-350k plus is more appealing to wanna be top school kids and their parents than debt.
So you are not choosing lesser if you end up at Tulsa or Bama or wherever.
The OP will need to be very careful about GPA assumptions as they apply, especially with that sophomore year. Most schools only consider grades when the student was in 9th onward, not high school material covered before that. Some discount or exclude 9th grade.
If possibly having your D become a NMF is a game changer for your family monetarily but comes out rather late to factor into your application gameā¦my suggestion would be having your D reach out to admissions at schools that are a possibility and ask how that works or may factor in when finalists are not announced until after application deadlines have passed. Then you will have clear answers at specific schools.