@oneplus since NMSC hasn’t reported to TAMU yet that you are a finalist, the award wouldn’t show up in the howdy portal. My DD has the Presidents Endowed Scholarship showing up in the portal but not NMF award.
TAMU received notice when DD was named NMSF and sent a congrats letter back in October 2017 explaining the guaranteed NMF package of $42k if named a NMF.
The $42k NMF scholarship specifically says guaranteed in the letter.
The NMF scholarship at TAMU is:
Presidents Endowed Scholarship - $12k
National Merit Recognition Award - $28k
TAMU Sponsorship - $2k
Total - $42k
An out of state tuition waver of $17k per year $68k total is added to this award for OOS NMF. $110k total.
You can stack other scholarships on top of this to cover room and board.
I would be interested to see the breakdown of transfer students at UTD who are international. When we visited my daughter chatter with many random students and met two that were transferring out next semester. One actually told her it was nothing like the colleges he watched on American movies and he wanted to find a school like that. Also the lack of a football team and typical party culture could affect some. My perception was also some people came to UTD with long term goals of transferring to UT especially if they were more local.
@kcheves - Thanks for checking. Yes, that is where I looked and didn’t see any scholarship info yet.
@ccsouth - Thanks for posting the info. I was thinking I’d put TAMU as 1st choice so the scholarship would show in my portal, but after reading your info, I now understand that is a bad idea since I’m not sure I’m going there. You saved me from making a potentially costly mistake! I don’t see the PES which I was awarded. Since it is showing for you, I will have to contact them.
For the Texas residents whose kids are going to UTD, why did they pick that over TAMU? The size of TAMU is a little scary for me, but I liked my visit there. Is there anything you guys know about it that OOS people don’t know?!!!
@kcheves - I have nothing showing in howdy, BUT I just googled “tamu view scholarships” and would you believe there is a portal titled “Scholarships & Financial Aid Student Portal.” I used the netid and password for howdy to login, and now I can view my scholarships! Below is the link: https://myfinancialaid.tamu.edu/default.aspx
@oneplus just as UTD is not for everyone, TAMU is not for everyone. My sons really don’t like the football, military, or the party culture and frankly I cringe every time someone says “HOWDY!” I have friends that are at TAMU and very happy there, it’s just not a good fit for my boys.
@oneplus, I took my son to visit both TAMU and UTD. He hated TAMU and never thought for even one second about applying there. He didn’t like the campus or the surrounding area, he didn’t like the vibe (the Corps was especially a turnoff for him), he felt it would be a bit too conservative for him. He also has never cared for spectator sports so the big rah-rah football atmosphere wasn’t ideal either.
He liked UT Austin more, but didn’t like that it is right in the large city and again there’s the rah-rah sports aspect.
When he visited quiet nerdy UTD that will never have a football team, situated in a nice suburb that’s close to Dallas without being right in the city, that felt much less conservative than TAMU, he knew he found his place.
UTD is definitely not a “typical” college and it isn’t for everyone. But kids like my son love it for the very reasons others might hate it (no big sports emphasis, not a party school, “studious” vibe).
Re: scholarships showing up - It’s probably too early for NMF scholarships to be showing up anywhere. To my knowledge, the schools don’t get notified until March 1.
Thank you @3scoutsmom for the awesome report. I know your and @traveler98 sons are going to soar at UTD. I am so excited to keep up with their journeys!
@oneplus please try to arrange a visist, you can apply for free if you are a NMF. Contact Michael Seeligson or Amanda Ryder they wil set you up with a personal tour. They strongly encourage students to look at other colleges because UTD is kind of unique, for some kids this is a good thing for others, not so much. Their National Merit scholarship does cover tuition, fees, room and board (if you stay on campus) and usually enough left for book and you can stack outside merit aid. Lots of other very nice perks too;-)
If UTD is a fit, it’s a truly excellent option for an NMF. And yes, visit if you can because fit is about feel as much as it is about finances, programs and whether or not there are Greeks and rah rah sports.
@3scoutsmom Yes! I recently found out I am a NMF! Hooray!!!
That is so nice of you to give me the names! Last fall I asked my counselor for help with NMF college scholarships, but she quit and that left our entire school with only 1 counselor. I talked to her, but she really only gave me a few suggestions. I searched on my own and found names like OU, TAMU, etc. but didn’t come across UTD. I wish I would have discovered this site sooner. Everyone on this site seems so nice! Thank you!
@oneplus I’m happy to help with any questions you have. What is your intended major? That may be a big factor in what schools you should be looking at.
I have a daughter at OU on NM scholarship but it has changed a lot and really wouldn’t recommend it for someone OOS unless you were looking at very specific programs like meteorology.
Finacially, not knowing anything about your major, you should quickly get in applications to:
UTD (University of Texas at Dallas)
UCF (University of Central Florida)
TTU (Texas Tech University)
UAH (University of Alabama Huntsville)
UNM (University of New Mexico)
These seem to be the most generious NM scholarships this year, I’m sure others will chime in with more;-)
University of Idaho offers a full ride for NMFs. Though it’s north, the climate is actually quite temperate and the surrounding area is very beautiful. The white supremacists were cleared out in the 90s and it’s now a very pleasant place to spend time. However, the skiing is not very good, so personally, I’ve crossed it off my list.
^^ I visted University of Idaho this past fall, and its nice. Its a smaller school, and there’s lots of of personal attention for the honors students, it has a good engineering program, and good food.
Wow! You guys are awesome! I’m interested in eventually working in some field of renewable energy, maybe smart grids or automation, so I’m applying for electrical/computer engineering which is why I thought A&M would be good. Now I see there may be truly full-ride options! I will check out the schools mentioned. Thanks, again, CC members! Unfortunately, I have tons of homework to get to now … aargh! :((