<p>From reading these forums, it seems that many NMF’s choose U of Alabama. Is this because of the package offered or some other reason? Why not Arizona or Northeastern?</p>
<p>U A offers a far more generous package to NMF than do many other schools. My guess is this is ONE reason why students choose it. It also happens to be a fine school. (NEU and AZ are too…but don’t offer nearly the financial incentive that 'Bama offers…and good for them. They are attracting some very fine students to a very good school.</p>
<p>Agree with thumper1. Also, heavy marketing. My finalist got piles of mail from Alabama touting their NMF offer.</p>
<p>The scholarship is guaranteed…it’s for tuition, housing (including honors housing), and other goodies.</p>
<p>The academics are strong. </p>
<p>State of the art facilities, including a new mega-sized Science & Engineering Complex.</p>
<p>It has very good pre-health (med/dental/vet/etc) advising.</p>
<p>It has a well-developed Honors College with 4 distinct programs and is headed by an amazing “hands-on” dean who works 24/7 supported by a faculty that is devoted to its students. </p>
<p>The school president is a visionary. </p>
<p>The school offers a full college life experience.</p>
<p>The campus is drop-dead gorgeous.</p>
<p>And, with one visit, you’re hooked. :)</p>
<p>“Why does Alabama seem to be the most popular NMF choice?”</p>
<p>Its not.
according to the 2010 NMSF annual report
U of Alabama enrolled 128 NMF’s in 2010
University of Southern Calif enrolled 250, [and all received 1/2 tuition scholarships]
beaten only by U of Chicago 268,
and Harvard 261</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nationalmerit.org/annual_report.pdf[/url]”>http://www.nationalmerit.org/annual_report.pdf</a></p>
<p>page 36</p>
<p>University of Oklahoma enrolled 225, more than Yale.</p>
<p>Wow, U of Chicago? – they only give 2K per year to NMF – who knew that it would attract so many, especially since it’s now approaching “most expensive tuition” status. </p>
<p>Not terribly surprised about Harvard.</p>
<p>The OK package is really good. They have solid support services for NM scholars as well.</p>
<p>uab in alabama also offers a full ride for NMF… tier 1 research university. very strong sciences and health related.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I would guess that most Finalists aren’t going to schools with the big scholarship packages. Many of them will go, but the scholarship packages are designed to lure top students away from the kinds of top schools they traditionally attend. NMFs are usually kids who have done quite well in high school in addition to having high PSAT scores; they are also likely to have high SAT scores. Usually the qualities that make you a Finalist for National Merit are also qualities that help you get into top schools. So a lot of these kids may be desiring to go to the big names anyway. Chicago doesn’t really surprise me; a lot of kids may not be taking advantage of the scholarships because then they’d have to turn down big name schools.</p>
<p>Not me, though - I took the bait, haha.</p>
<p>My D took the “bait” as well – she turned down U Chicago for a NMF full tuition+ scholarship at Auburn, and couldn’t be happier. WE couldn’t be happier either – our bank account took a giant sigh of relief.</p>
<p>We also seriously considered the UA offer – it is tremendous, and should be a SERIOUS possibility for any NMF. Turning down that much money just to attend a big-name institution? The reasons would need to be incredibly compelling.</p>
<p>Regarding U of Chicago, the $1000 or $2000 that the NMF’s receive is only U of C’s official NMF scholarship. Many of those kids are receiving much more in financial aid or other merit scholarships offer by the school. So we really do not know how much each of those NMF’s receive in their total package.</p>
<p>Merit aid at U Chicago is pretty skimpy. They have a great scholarship for children of Chicago police and firefighters; the Odyssey scholarship is okay if you qualify (there is a strong need-based component) but just general merit aid is not their strong suit. They will even tell you this in the admissions info session at the school – they made a point of downplaying it. (“Only the truly amazing get a merit scholarship.”) Now, the overall financial award/grant is pretty good (nearly everyone gets some sort of aid), but it is not necessarily purely merit-based.</p>
<p>My D attended UA as an NMF and received their awesome scholarship package. She has graduated since then and had a great experience at the school. She would highly recommend it and is a proud alumni. The scholarship sure took the weight off of our shoulders.</p>
<p>Right…most NMFs probably end up at schools that don’t give big NMF scholarships. The ivies and other elites have a lot of NMFs.</p>
<p>Why other NMF scholarship schools also get a lot of NMFs, Bama is popular because it’s a gorgeous school with very good academics and a full college experience. People who visit are hooked.</p>
<p>My older son took the Bama NMF scholarship and graduated last May. He’s now working on his PhD at a top school.</p>
<p>The number of scholars at UAlabama or other similar schools is deceptive if one was purely looking at it as a numerical number in comparison with Harvard or Chicago.</p>
<p>UA is ranked somewhere around 80 (2011 numbers may move it up since it is getting more popular by the day if CC posts are counted).</p>
<p>Would any of NMSF accept UA without financial incentives? Probably some that love the school. The others are accepting it for the great package that is being offered if they are in a position where going to another school costs them a ton of money. These people fall in that gray area where the schools that only provide financial aid for low incomes wont cover a dime for them but cost 55k. So you look around and go, ok I got into MIT/Yale/Brown/Princeton/Harvard/Chicago (pick one) but need a quarter of a million to complete since I dont qualify for FA based on their rules and they dont care that I made NMSF. Alabama is telling me I am royalty if I show up and treated as well as their star football players if I show up.</p>
<p>So what is a parent to do?</p>
<p>*ok I got into MIT/Yale/Brown/Princeton/Harvard/Chicago (pick one) but need a quarter of a million to complete since I dont qualify for FA based on their rules and they dont care that I made NMSF. </p>
<p>Alabama is telling me I am royalty if I show up and treated as well as their star football players if I show up.</p>
<p>So what is a parent to do? *</p>
<p>lol…well, I can tell you this… My older son LOVED being treated like royalty at Bama. He kind of misses that while in grad school where every single student is a super student. </p>
<p>But, I do have to say…Bama treats all of its students very well…the southern hospitality is not test-score related. The staff, profs, etc, are extremely helpful and courteous. (Some of the elite schools we visited sure could use a lesson or two. lol)</p>
<p>There are a lot of families that fall into that grey area – for the reason you mentioned, among others.
Depending on a student’s choice of major, and whether he or she is planning on post-graduate work, the financial incentives offered by a UA, OU, Nebraska, TA&M, etc. make good sense. This topic has swirled around on CC for a while, and I get the feeling that some feel as though accepting one of these scholarships is somehow selling out. It’s no sin (or some sort of intellectual “betrayal”) for a very strong student to weigh their options carefully and choose a school that makes the most financial sense for them.</p>
<p>And, even though some of these schools are not in the US News top 25, they are still great institutions that will offer a wonderful education to any student who takes advantage of all the opportunities they make available.</p>
<p>Bama treats all of its students very well… </p>
<p>I am not saying they dont, but those 125 NMSFs are going for free, getting paid to go abroad and spend time etc. that not every student at Alabama gets to do. So they are getting the Royal treatment.</p>
<p>There is another thread around here that discusses people who were considering to USC on a full ride vs Harvard. It was similar situation where two families said they were taking USC over Harvard. One of them came back recently and said her daughter chose Harvard and has settled and happy while the second parent came and said her kid is equally happy at USC and her financial health is even more happy.</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>Oh I know that you weren’t suggesting that the other students aren’t treated well.</p>
<p>I was just concerned that someone reading this thread might wrongly think, “Well, so they treat the NMFs well, does that mean everyone else is chopped liver?” lol</p>
<p>So, apologies if you thought that I was correcting you. I wasn’t. :)</p>
<p>I was just making sure that someone didn’t come to the wrong conclusion…some people can “connect the dots” in a pessimistic fashion. I’ve been asked about that before.</p>