@dowzerw Thanks! I told him to check his NM application after reading this topic 
Spoke with husband and he said that when he spoke with them, they indicated not all corporate scholarships are released at the same time and that we could hear anytime in the March-April window. He also said he spoke specifically with the person overseeing this particular scholarship and they looked at sonās file and said we had nothing to worry about, so still keeping fingers crossed over here!
Thank you! Transportation fee is a must? My son doesnāt drive, and his health insurance is still cover under our BCBS health insurance.
@Worry Mom you donāt pay a transportation fee but you need to figure out how to get your kid to UTD and back and forth for breaks. He might be able to get a ride from others kids, take AmTrak, Mega Bus but the scholarship is not going to pay transportation to and from school.
If you need transportation paid, look at Texas Tech, their National Meirt does pay for transportation.
When do Finalists hear if they have been awarded NMSC $2500 awards (no school or corporate options)?
@brazos21 NMSC mails on March 22. News media announcement on May 9th.
And looking back on the 2017 thread, it would appear NMF students can log into their portal on the website on March 22 and know right away if they received one of the NMSC scholarships.
@FSUdad93 Governor Scott signed the bill into law today! Good news for all you OOS NMS accepted at one of the 6 Benacquisto-eligible Florida schools!
Wow. Iām on vacation down here. Official visit time for UF this week.
Thanks @g8torlaw. Now, it is time to choose!
UF is so much better ranked than UCF (42 vs 171)ā¦
But I really really like Burnett Medical Scholar guaranteeā¦
@FSUdad93 : I would appreciate your trip reportā¦
Will do! Planning all 3 tours. UF, Engineering and Honors hopefully.
Does anyone know if UF does option C for NMF ?
(in reference for the Benacquisto)
(a) a National MeritĀ® $2500 Scholarship,
(b) a Corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship, or
Ā© a College-sponsored Merit Scholarship.
It would be nice to know that those who donāt receive option A would get a College sponsored Award?
( as per many other Universities
@xxyyzz00 I will say my one bone of contention with UCF is no one told us about BMS until it was too late. Our DD is pursuing nursing so it really shouldnāt apply but would have been nice to have the info to make an informed choice. Her Dad still wants her to keep her options for possible med school open and having that as an enticement would have helped my side ! 
@Phlipper Ya, UCF doesnāt do a great job advertising the BMS program. The only reason I knew about it was because there was a flyer in the honors college application packet. Almost threw it away by accident thoughā¦ @-)
Also, donāt forget to apply to the LEAD program. I read somewhere on CC that it is a great program. The deadline should be March 31.
@fsudad I called and they told me that any NMF who lists UF as their college will get a $500 college sponsored award so they will qualify for Benacquisto. I asked if there was a limited # of awards and she said no, itās for every NMF. Full ride with some extra cash!
I heard that UCF only accepts about 12 kids into the Direct Medical program (and Iām not sure if thatās per year or only a few per year). I could be mistaken though.
Wasnāt really very familiar with BMS at UCF. Am I reading correctly the completion requirements are 3.75 overall GPA, 3.75 science GPA, and 512 MCAT score? Plus university honors/honors in the major?
Those are some pretty high standards to hit. Students who complete the program would have a pretty decent success rate getting into med school even without the program I would presume.
Kind of intrigued, because DS was fortunate to be accepted into a guaranteed entrance program at Louisville. They accept 10 kids each year, in state only though. Completion requirements arenāt necessary ālowā, but quite a bit lower than BMS. 3.4 GPA and at or above national mean on the MCAT (which is 500 I think). Which is actually a bit under the average incoming stats at Louisvilleās med school (more like a 3.7 and a 507), so it seems like Louisvilleās program actually gives him some welcome cushion. Would allow him to take more risk (challenging classes) without stressing so much about your GPA and āgetting inā.
I received my hard copy corporate scholarship award today and accepted it in my portal! Very exciting!
@Kayak24 @LOUKYDAD When I had my visit with the honors college, was told that they had a class of 24 BMS(not sure if that was the inaugural class or most recent to graduate). Of those 24 BMS, 20 matriculated into UCFā COM through the BMS program. The other 4 didnāt meet the MCAT requirement and went to Miami instead.
I know that there are other programs with better guarentees, but BMS wasnāt my deciding factor. I like to think of it as a motivating factor to keep my GPA up and get a great MCAT score. The program is non-binding, so if I decide to switch to the PA route or forgo the program to escape the high requirements, I can! Also can choose to attend a different med school even after completing all the requirements. Iām not too stressed out about the program because I know that it is optional and incidental for me, but this can definitely be different for others.