Its time to get started with shared info for scholarships and NMF $. I am expecting my S18 to be a finalist. He is hoping to attend Harvard a NON NMF school. However, money will be a huge deciding factor. Other than our state schools, what are the best Full Ride schools? It would appear OU, TTech, UCF…
If you are in Florida nothing is going to beat going to UF or FSU for free on the Benacquisto. But check out: http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/
OU recently scaled back its NMF program a bit.
One school not listed on the above compilation is Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond:
“Finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program who notify the National Merit Scholarship Corporation by May 31 that VCU is their first choice institution, and who apply to VCU by the November 15 scholarship deadline, are eligible for a VCU Presidential Scholarship… This four-year scholarship covers the cost of tuition and fees up to $14,000 per year (maximum amount of $7,000 per semester) as well as room and board. The estimated total value of this four-year award is approximately $104,000.”
I don’t think any other public Virginia college has an equal or better offer.
S is a likely finalist, too. He will be taking a full ride to University of New Mexico if he makes it.
D is a likely NMF. She is applying to OU (in state), ASU (full tuition but not full ride), and USC (Cal, probable half tuition if accepted). She is more likely to attend a Canadian university though. She is a dual citizen, making those schools an excellent value.
UCF also offers a full ride and that includes out of state students. Texas Tech has a great program as well that is a full ride. there is another thread that details the drop off for OU, its quite significant. UT Arlington and UT Tyler also offer full rides.
My DS18 is on the bubble in TX (SI 221) if he makes it he’ll get a full ride (give or take a few $100) at UTD. If you are good with Texas Tech it has the best National Merit scholarship hands down. It pays ALL expenses including transportation and a stipend for incidentals.
Any advice for full rides at engineering schools? I am new at this. Son has a 217 in AL. His first choice is Ga Tech but not sure he will get accepted there. Thoughts?
D18 is very likely NMF also. We visited OU in the spring and she liked it a lot, to the point of making OU the only NMF school on her very short list. After learning about their new NMF package, Alabama and ASU are back on the table. Unfortunately, neither TT nor NM offer her major.
Engineering - UA Hunstville, Texas Tech. I’m not an engineering expert, but others will chime in later. 
@tallgrass us too. S18 was good with OU. Now I don’t know what to add because he’s not interested in any of the schools you listed. Contemplating Idaho or Washington State, but nobody talks about those.
S18 is likely NMF. He is applying to music schools within universities for vocal performance major, making the NMF schools not so automatic as he could still get rejected by the music school. But right now, the schools with big NMF awards that he plans to apply to are USCal, USCarolina, Alabama, and Oklahoma.
@Vistajay have you looked at the University of North Texas?
Fifty percent of parents think their child will be among the 2% that get NMF money.
@Muad_dib
Absolutely incorrect! 50% of parents will not send their kids to college at all. Among remaining 50% of parents, vast majority has no idea there is NMF money available. Of the few that remain and know the rules, most will not think that after getting their kids’ PSAT scores.
So the only parents that think their kid has a legitimate shot at NMF money are those that compare PSAT score to previous year cutoff in their state. That’s why I personally said my D is “very likely” to become NMF - her score is 4 points higher than last year cutoff, so it is extremely unlikely (some would say virtually impossible) for the score to jump 5 points this year.
^^^ What @tallgrass said. Most of us posting on this thread know our historical state cutoffs and we know where our kids stand in relation to those cutoffs. We’re here to share information and generally be supportive of each other as we wait for the official news.
@Muad_dib Possibly you didn’t mean to sound snarky, or perhaps I’m misreading your tone, but there’s already enough stress and unpleasantness in the college application process without someone deliberately adding more.
Is your child a potential NMF? Do you need information about schools or how the process works, or did you have info to share? If yes, we’ll be happy to help.
It is true that most NMF don’t get money, but the schools people are talking about here are the ones that DO give money directly. So yeah, unless the score in my state jumps 9 points (! not happening), S is going to be a NMSF. I assume he will then be NMF. And then IF he chooses the right school on his list (1-2 guarantee money), he should get money. If he choose the other schools on his list, then I completely assume he will NOT get money.
I’m confused by what @tallgrass said with regard to 50% of parents not sending their kids to college. Are you saying that half of the kids who meet the NMF cutoff don’t even go to college?!! Or are you saying that half of all kids don’t go to college AND that NMF money is available to everyone?
I can’t speak for @tallgrass, but sometimes people mean different things when they talk about NMF money.
Some people only count the scholarships that come directly from NMSC and their corporate sponsors. These scholarships tend to be $2500 or so, and there aren’t very many of them, sot most NMFs don’t get one. Perhaps this is what maud_dib was referring to.
The larger full ride / full or partial tuition packages offered by individual schools come from the schools themselves, and those are what most of us here are talking about.
I can appreciate your larger point, but the facts as you presented them are not really accurate.
Anecdotal to those specific individuals in this thread, I know each of them are aware of their child’s SI, The cut offs from their states for last year, the forecasted increase in this year’s cut off based on the published commended scores, and the true nature of what a National Merit Award really is. I know this because we talk about it together…
Note, lets make sure we are talking about the same thing when we mention “NMF money” . The context of THIS thread, and the schools mentioned in it (UNM, OU, UA, TT etc etc etc) are that they have “automatic” scholarships that are determined by NMF status, but not necessarily funded by it?
Need clarification on anything else?