<p>We do have great state schools here in Virginia- all of the goods ones are tough to get into and had deadlines back in November or December. We really thought we were all set with the school that he loved that offers GREAT merit aid for NMF- never dreamed he would be one of the few they cut. He has been admitted to one of the smaller state schools- but the more he hears about it and sees who else from his high school is going, the more he doesn’t want to go there. The Virginia schools have had too many budget cuts and give almost no merit aid- so there won’t be any coming and even though it is instate, it is still a little over $20,000 a year. We just can’t do that with the furlough coming up too.</p>
<p>axomom - Did you appeal to his school with the NMF aid? Explain why he didn’t make it? perhaps they might have flexibility? Again, very sorry for your situation. I do hope a happy solution appears.</p>
<p>I received some private messages and I don’t have enough posts to reply. Re the one asking if we have considered schools that give merit aid for semi-finalist. If anyone knows of some that give good aid for semifinalist when you haven’t yet applied, send it out here please! The combo of losing the corporate money and the finalist money has us so lost that we don’t know where to even look!</p>
<p>Just this week the U of TX at Dallas sent a letter to the parents of NMF’s featuring their full-tuition and fees + $8K/yr stipend and emphasizing that it is available to any NMF that still wants to apply. They encouraged parents to call and are doing a visit day for these students in early March. You might want to give them a call and explain your situation. Their willingness to bend so far to scoop in a NMF at this late date suggests they might also be willing to take a NMSF in your son’s situation.</p>
<p>Let me add that UT-Dallas has something of a “rising school” reputation and that the Honors program there sounds intriguing.
<a href=“http://oue.utdallas.edu/aes/national-merit-scholarships/#Award1[/url]”>http://oue.utdallas.edu/aes/national-merit-scholarships/#Award1</a>
<a href=“http://www.utdallas.edu/enroll/contact/[/url]”>http://www.utdallas.edu/enroll/contact/</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/15297679-post727.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/15297679-post727.html</a></p>
<p>Check this for scholarships for NMSF (as well as NMF)</p>
<p>By the way, called today to check on my D’s appeal - was told it’s still in review. However, it sounds like they don’t really even bother to look at them based on axomom’s experience.</p>
<p>UT-Dallas NMS Director: Ingrid London at 972-883-4022</p>
<p>[Coastal</a> Carolina University - Merit-Based Scholarships](<a href=“http://www.coastal.edu/financialaid/scholarships/merit.html]Coastal”>http://www.coastal.edu/financialaid/scholarships/merit.html)</p>
<p>I know the deadline has passed, but we have heard good things about Coastal Carolina and I think they might have some merit aid available. Does the small VA school have an Honors Program? I know Radford has one that might make him feel better about attending. Feel your pain since the cost is still the same whether it is one of the smaller VA schools or flagships. Look around the Carolinas, WV and even in VA for some of the LACs might have decent merit aid available. Emory and Henry? Again, it still might just get you up to in-state level, but you never know. Hit the “local” scholarship circuit as well. Every $500 counts–even if the decision is to stay at community college.</p>
<p>Their willingness to bend so far to scoop in a NMF at this late date suggests they might also be willing to take a NMSF in your son’s situation.</p>
<p>You can try, but I doubt that the leniency in regards to NMF applications would apply to NMSFs. The point of the big NMF scholarships is to be able to state: we have XX NMFs at our school. they can’t do that with someone who isn’t a NMF. At one point, not sure if this still exists, but a school’s ranking was positively affected by enrolling NMFs.</p>
<p>It’s very unfortunate when someone doesn’t make NMF over a silly reason like getting a couple of C’s while taking a very rigorous curriculum, while the resulting GPA is still high. </p>
<p>There’s no reason why NMCorp can’t have a system that allows two C’s as long as the overall GPA exceeds a 3.5. </p>
<p>Heck, theoretically, a student could be Val or Sal of his school and have a C or two on his record if his GPA is still higher than his classmates. </p>
<p>Bama is another school that is still awarding NMF scholarships to NMFs who still want to apply. But, they’re not going to give that award to someone who doesn’t make NMF. </p>
<p>Awarding big NMF scholarships is all about the bragging rights.</p>
<p>Well, I got the oh-so unexpected appeal rejection letter today. Can’t say as I had much thought of it going the other way, but you know there is always that flicker of hope. All in all, it really won’t make a lot of difference. She will either attend Alabama where she has a full tuition scholarship or UT, A&M or Rice (if we can figure out to pay for that!) We would get more from A&M if she had made it, but they have offered a partial scholarship already.</p>
<p>The letter seemed very generic, made no comments as to the specifics of her situation at all. So, not really even sure they made any attempt to reevaluate it. Kind’ve funny too in that I just called two days ago (Wednesday) and I was told that it was “still under review” but the letter is postmarked Monday. Are they so swamped in appeals that they can’t even tell which ones they have looked at? Doesn’t really make me feel confident that they are doing much other than checking off As and Bs on report cards.</p>
<p>We still haven’t received a letter…not that I care at this point. </p>
<p>axomom, others recommended UTD. I think that’s where my son will probably end up; his scholarship is w/o NMF (full tuition and fees + $3,000 per semester), and it will cost us $4250 per year. They are making a play to be the 4th tier 1 school in Texas, so they want kids with good scores to up the average ACT/SAT…I don’t know if you can still apply, but it’s worth a try.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions. I think we are going to have to got the CC route. The deal in Virginia is guaranteed transfer into ANY Virginia public (yes, including UVA and W&M) if you get a 3.5 and the associates degree from a CC. UT Dallas is just too far away. Even if the government furlough hits, we can swing CC this coming year by him living at home. That way he can work summers and save and all together we should be able to scrape up enough for two years at one of the state universities. If not, then he could do the lesser desired, but still good, state uni that he could commute to from home. I wish he had applied there as a safety! Not the way he wanted to go to college.</p>
<p>Axomom - I had a good friend who went to NOVA CC and then transferred into W&M with be long ago. She was very prepared and now has a PHD and is a cancer researcher at the NIH. So CC can be a good option.</p>
<p>Also, has he thought about taking a gap year and re-applying to schools that would give him merit outside the NMF system?</p>
<p>I think this year has been very tough and the fact that my son’s transcript only shows yearly grades and not semester grades made a big difference.</p>