Anybody else out there sitting on pins and needles waiting for U of Miami to update their child’s portal with the Benacquisto OOS Scholarship amount? They keep saying July and I do see a lot of activity in her financial aid portal but the wait is killing us.
@shep0410 , I so excited about SB4. Praying this house bill is in place for HS class of 2021. Please keep us updated. I am on pins and needles for all 2018 OOS NMF kids with SB4.
@mountainmomof3 What state are you from? That should tell you a great deal about whether you will make the final cut. DD is attending UCF in the Fall. We are VERY excited !
@Phlipper we are CO so his 221 is one above last year’s cutoff. Based on Art’s predictions he should make it but we don’t want to count on anything till it is announced. SAT of 1570 so if he makes it he should be good.
For NMF $, he would look at UA, UF and UCF. Based on what I see on CC, it seems like UCF and UA put a little more into their NMF.
Maybe UF doesn’t need to as their pool has become so competitive over recent years?
We will visit the FL schools if and when he makes the cut. Lots of great options out there for those kids wanted to take advantage of free $! Congrats to your DD!
The Benquisto will take care of full cost of attendance for UF, UCF, FSU and a few others. Luke VanBlaricon is your contact for UCF. He is AWESOME ! They treat your kid like royalty. Good luck !
@phlipper - thanks!
Anybody get a letter this month from NMSC? I am away on vacation for the next 3 weeks and happen to notice on informed delivery that there was an envelope for my daughter who accepted the scholarship to UTD. Wondering what the letter is about.
thanks
Cy
My son got one yesterday @iAmACynic, it confirmed his school choice, said that it will be sent to the school, if it used for not tution (say housing) it might be taxable, you have keep a certain GPA… that was the gist of it. I can get it from my son if you need the details. There was nothing actionable on it.
@FSUdad93, my son and I had some of the same questions that you did about the best strategies for optimizing the Benacquisto. We were told of a few strategies by the staff at the University of Florida. As you questioned, the Benacquisto can indeed be used for whatever the number of hours required to graduate in a given program, such as a double major, and that it is good for up to 10 semesters. So, to get the most out of it, you can select a program that requires more than the typical 120 credits required to graduate. Additionally, if the speed of graduation is not important, you can spread the hours over the 10 semesters (5 years) as long as you take a minimum of 12 hours/semester, which is the minimum load to be a full-time student. The easier work load might allow for a better GPA and more time for ECs, such as a major research project.
We were also told that AP hours are not subtracted from the number of hours that the scholarship will pay for. Therefore, if your major requires 128 credit hours, Benacquisto will pay for all of them as long as you make sure that you don’t meet the requirements to graduate until you have taken all the classes. Further, if you find yourself down to your last semester needing only a few hours to graduate, the Benacquisto will pay fully for room and board as long as you are taking at least one required class and you pay for the other excess hours yourself to reach the required minimum of 12 hours per semester for a full time student.
We were also told that UF does not allow anyone to effectively pocket excess money from UF scholarships and the Benacquisto. For instance, if your child received a $10k Presidential scholarship from UF and then also qualified for the Benacquisto, you would not get to keep the Presidential Scholarship. Unfortunately, my son did not get anything other than the small honors scholarship - which they took back - so I don’t know from first-hand experience that you can’t keep the other money. However, my son was offered large scholarships from other Florida colleges, and we have wondered if they have the same policy of taking it back. (I have a rising HS junior, so I’m still interested in how it all works.)
As a disclaimer, I have not seen the details above in writing, other than what is written in the statute and UF scholarships website. Accordingly, one of my reasons for posting it is to see if anyone else was told differently. We are relying on what two very nice staff members told us at Preview.
@DHC, much appreciated for your response and help. No, I do not need the details of the letter. I just wanted to make sure that it was not something that I had to respond to quickly. Thanks.
I believe the limitations of a Benacquisto scholarship apply to pretty much all colleges. It is estimated full cost of attendance so they aren’t going to let you bank any additional scholarships. The one thing they did tell us is that if they have outside scholarships they can ask that the check be made directly to you, a kind of don’t ask don’t tell policy. Is speaking to the UCF students currently in the program they indicated that they usually had money left over from the scholarship since the balance of what is left over after tuition and room and board is direct dep. into their checking account.
IMHO, Lets look at Benacquisto as an Outside Scholarship to your University. It is for Full Cost and is a set amount. The University then isn’t going to give you excess $ as you already have Full Cost. However, Outside $ sent to the University in your name will be put directly into your account, unless it is specified for Tuition etc.Then it will be put toward tuition. Also, there is a difference between a Scholarship and a Grant.
A grant is a gift of money that does not need to be repaid, typically awarded based on financial need. With Benacquisto there is no more financial need. Outside Merit Scholarships that are not Need based are generally forwarded into the students account. Students may need these Funds for Summer travel, internships etc.
A previous answer to this question in 2017: (reference Benacquisto and Outside scholarships) “Your S will be refunded the extra money into his bank account. But he will also have to pay taxes on that money. Benacquisto is a beautiful thing.” …The school will take back any Need based Grants they awarded your S or D.
A possible strategy to get the most of Benacquisto: Start with 25 hours of AP. Choose a double major that is in the area of 145 hours. Plan on 120 hours at University. Take 12 hours a semester to strengthen GPA. Benacquisto still gives you 15 hours of funding per semester. Use 10 semesters,(5 years) to accomplish your double major while taking your last class in each semester in the final semester. Of course it will take one year longer to reach the workforce but in theory with a stronger education.
Florida OSFA has updated their web site to include OOS Benacquisto details.
Another 2019 Parent question - when/how did everyone find out state cut offs? From school or was there someway to see them earlier? I have tried skimming threads but can seem to pin point the info. Can you tell the last month of waiting will be hard?
Crowd sourcing before the Release Date in mid-September. Art on Compass might be doing that again this year.
The home-school families are typically the first to find out since the letters are addressed to the school (and the parent is the principal). These letters go out bulk sometime in later August (NMSC can provide updated information on which exact date). The Homeschoolers who made it will post (“Made it with a 223 in IL!!” Etc.) and then others begin posting lists of states usually with something like a <= next to the SI, meaning that the cut-off is at or below that number.
If you’ve heard nothing by the mid-Sept. release date, call NMSC and they will tell you definitively whether you’ve made it. Pretty sure they will NOT release a cut-off. That’s only done via crowd-sourcing. Everyone needs to know by that date as the application for Finalist is due before mid-October. If you are SF and your school hasn’t said anyhting you need to work with them and with NMSC to get your credentials (which is in the school packet of course) and get the school their info. re-sent so they can complete their part of the application. BTW, no student who completes their portion will be denied because the school isn’t on the ball. NMSC is used to that . . . (and fortunately it doesn’t happen all too often).
@JBStillFlying thanks! As always you are a wealth of information! The homeschoolers were the missing piece for me. I couldn’t figure out how some people knew in August. We are a very small HS but had 2 NMF last year (after very long dry spell for our school) and the school seemed to be on the ball. I guess a little over a month of anticipation…
When will the college receive $2500 national merit scholarship? We got the tuition bill but it seems that $2500 has not been credited to DD’s account yet.