For first-choice college, do we put one that is a college sponsor even though it’s not actually our first choice? I want to go to Stanford but it doesn’t sponsor National Merit Scholarships…
You have months to decide. Are you applying ED to Stanford? If so, you’ll know long before the deadline anyway.
Is there some way to see if NMSC got the SAT scores that were sent?
@Booajo, I just called them when I was wondering the same thing. Very quick and painless phone call.
Just curious - whose DS / DD already has a strong preference for any given school? I know several of the families from the Parents of 2018 thread already have acceptances in hand, and some of those are one-and-done (including us).
What are all of you thinking when it comes to big money NMF school vs. your kid’s favorite that might not do much for NMFs?
We’re pretty deep in the doughnut hole, so we stressed to S that he needed a school with big merit. We’ve toured four schools already, and S fell in love with U of New Mexico and Texas Tech. Both offer true full rides, and UNM is his first choice. He’s already been accepted, but he applied to Texas Tech as a backup.
S liked UNM and TT so much that he decided he didn’t need to visit Tulane or Michigan State. I kind of wish he’d visited those two, but UNM is the closest to home and I liked it, too. It has the programs he wants, and the med school, if he ends up there, is well regarded.
How about the rest of you? Does the potential for NMF scholarships change things for you, or are your kids interested in schools where NMF isn’t a factor?
Hi everyone. My son is a semifinalist in Ohio. We haven’t done a whole lot yet, visited Kentucky and Cincinnati and he liked Kentucky but overall seems more interested in a small school. I’m impressed that kids have submitted applications already! I need to get DS moving on things.
DiotimaDM - My son is mainly interested in schools that don’t offer much or anything for NM. We are making him apply at Ohio State since we both work there & get a big discount and I think he’s going to apply at Kentucky. I’ve pretty much told him what he has in his college savings and that personally, I would go somewhere affordable and not go into debt. Does Michigan State do a lot for NM? I looked there (because we went to grad school there) and it didn’t seem like it was full tuition or anything. I had an undergrad in my lab there who had some huge scholarship that paid everything plus I think paid for him to work in our lab but that seemed like there were just a handful of those. Of course, this was a while ago!
@56lindabee, Michigan State does have some scholarships for NM, but it doesn’t look like they are automatic. There are other scholarships as well: https://admissions.msu.edu/cost-aid/merit-based-aid/freshman/high-achieving.aspx
@56lindabee Michigan State’s scholarships are not automatic or guaranteed, but you can be awarded more than one of them and they stack. The stacking can add up to a full ride for kids with NMF-level stats.
There are a limited number of NMF awards for room & board plus $4,000/year. Students accepted to the Honors College get an OOS tuition waiver and often other assistance, too. Students who have an assistantship of some sort get $3k/year.
There’s a member here whose NMF kid has a full ride to MSU that way.
Michigan State does not guarantee scholarships. They could add up to a full ride but you won’t necessarily know that. And to get to the full ride, you need to be awarded money at their ADS weekend (1000 kids attend and about 100 kids get money – taking a long and broad reaching test with no real way of knowing how you did which would let the school put the thumb on the scale for anyone they want). Without that, you likely are left with a balance of tuition between $7-10,000 per year (assuming you get in-state tuition).
And the room and board scholarship is taxable (like it is everywhere). From the student’s perspective, it doesn’t make sense to me to have a taxable scholarship when there could have been non-taxable scholarships (covering the rest of tuition in MSU’s case). But from the school’s perspective I think they run it that way because the room and board only covers university housing. And there is not guarantee it will be available. So I expect they have kids who essentially forfeit the room and board scholarship as upper classmen (who would get the money if it was tuition instead).
Re: taxable scholarships - I’d rather have the room & board covered and pay the taxes on it than not have it. Pay the $15 grand or pay the tax on $15 grand? I’ll take the tax. 
I agree with that. But at Michigan State there is a good chance a NMF would get free room and board (and have to pay taxes on $15,000) and pay $7,000 per year in tuition. I would rather have rest of the tuition covered and pay $7,000 in room and board (and only have to pay taxes on $8,000 in room and board rather than $15,000). And then if you can’t get university housing your last two years, you are paying $7,000 for tuition each year and you are paying for off campus room and board.
@DiotimaDM For me, NMF scholarships change everything. My parents haven’t saved anything for college so these full ride opportunities are really helping with my stress about college. If/when I decide to enter the medical field, I will start out with zero debt. The same goes for graduate school! The hardest part is explaining to my peers what this opportunity means. We have planned for the longest time to all go to UCI together but now I’m planning on going to Florida (UCF-my favorite). The only things they see are the differences in rankings, not the lack of debt and wonderful honors programs. I don’t really mind, it’s just hard to have to explain myself.
So far I have acceptances to University of New Mexico, UT Dallas, and University of Central Florida(just found out about UCF today!!) I will be touring these schools from nov-feb so we’ll see where I end up! I’m so excited about all of their honors programs!! Also, since the scholarships cover full cost of attendence, I’ll be able to participate in study abroad using extra scholarship money or an on campus job.
Hmm, that would be interesting if there are good numbers of OOS NMF at MSU who only have the R&B+4k. I would think that all or most of them would also have scholarships related to the Honors College. (there’s a link a few posts above to high stats scholarships at MSU for anyone who’s interested)
I finally found the breakdown from the poster who has an NMF kid on a full ride there. Her S doesn’t have anything from the ADS, btw.
DISCLAIMER: these awards are limited in number and NOT guaranteed
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/18636932/#Comment_18636932
@sewin2music That’s awesome! It’s nice to have so many good choices. My S is pre-med, too, so best wishes and go get 'em wherever you end up. 
The honors scholarship for out of state referenced above means you pay in-state tuition. There is no $3,000 additional for honors kids that is referenced in the post from 2015. For class of 2018, in-state tuition is $14,500 per year. The $4k takes that down to $10.5k per year. So you need an additional $10.5k/year in tuition scholarships. The national merit scholarship noted above (according to the MSU website listed above) is need based.
I remember seeing the post referenced above about stacking scholarships at MSU. Its a big reason my daughter applied there last year. But she was an OOS NMF admitted to honors college, offered professorial assistantship who did not have a full ride in the class of 2017. I am not sure how common it is. If your kid doesn’t get it that is all matters. And that is before you look at the uncertainty of university housing in terms of room and board.
Very interesting! Thank you. That takes some of the regret out of my S’s decision not to apply.
@saillakeerie , DD is planning to apply MSU, OOS NMSF, is there a separate application for honors college? I read its website but am still confused. My understanding is only one application required, and MSU will choose the candidates for scholarship and honor colleges.
@sewin2music I shared what you said in post #111 with my D, who is in the same boat. She said, “that person sounds a lot like me.” (Re: having to explain to people who only see differences in rankings versus the opportunities, etc.). She is preliminarily interested in Med School and NOT interested in astronomical debt for undergrad. Maybe you’ll both end up at UCF. Haha We have to look at some of the others but she really loved our visit to UCF.
Good luck to you!
I got the log in information and filled out the whole application! (It was easy because my common app essay and activities translated over perfectly) Gonna wait a few hours, look over it with fresh eyes, then probably submit it.
@Kayak24 I love UCF! It’s my favorite in state school for sure (im frok florida). If I didn’t love USC so much, I’d probably only apply for ucf, haha
Is it okay to put “undecided” in a first choice of college in a application form?