I’ve been reading through any information I can find - CC threads, financial aid websites, the UF website - but everything is either 1) speculation, or 2) information pertaining to LAST YEAR’s high school grads. After posting here and there with minor questions, I’ve decided to just come out with my big yet-unanswered question: how can I get FIS at UF?
I’m a HS Senior. National Merit Semifinalist, most likely a 2016 Finalist. I’m applying to UF and I think I can get in. I’ve already named UF as my first-choice college on my National Merit app.
I’ve heard people say that to get the FIS at UF, all you need to do is become a Finalist. They automatically give you a college-sponsored award and then you get the FIS. This seems too easy and too good to be true. Is this really how it works? Or is it a competitive process? Seems too easy to just be a Finalist and name UF as first choice.
I have been offered the highest level scholarship from USF. Going there would be very cheap, nearly free for me. My parents very much want me to go there, because I’d be living at home and they don’t want me to leave… I really, really want to attend UF but it’s kind of hard to pass up all that money from USF. Unless I get the FIS at UF. That would be life-changing. How do I do it?
Also…what if they discontinue the FIS? Right now it’s still on the UF website. It’s on the Florida finaid website and everything. But like I said, it seems too good to be true. Will they yank the rug right out from under me and discontinue it in the upcoming months?
Sorry for the long post. I’ve been posting here/in other threads quite frequently, but still haven’t found any reason to believe that I can count on the FIS. I don’t want to get my hopes up but I keep stressing about it and it’s driving me crazy. I have anxiety so I tend to fixate on things I have no control over, and this is a very big example of that. Any input would be greatly appreciated. If you read all of this, thank you and I hope good karma gets you.
Yes, it is true! My daughter and three of her friends, are all attending UF on a full FIS. I understand your dis-belief, we were so nervous about it as well and especially when Rick Scott had proposed to defund it in his budget but both the house and senate voted to keep it. Think about it- so many schools give big bucks for National Merit. The state of Florida lost many great students to schools like Alabama, Auburn, Oklahoma, Texas A& M- all because those schools treated these top students so well and awarded them financially with big scholarships. When Senator Benacquisto proposed this legislation it was specifically to retain smart students in the state. My daughter turned down 7 other schools and large scholarships, including Provost scholar at Georgia Tech, because she is a smart cookie and knew that it is far better to have your undergraduate education completely funded while you save money for future graduate education.
Here is my advice:
Do everything you can to make certain you move from semi finalist to finalist including: 1) Complete all paperwork and make certain your parents answer the NM email and log into the account and give permission for you to participate. 2) Write a respectful and sincere essay and make certain it is submitted on time. 3) Make certain your guidance department knows how to handle the National Merit process from their end including submitting their forms electronically and the teacher/guidance recommendation. 4) Make certain there are no discipline issues from the past or present that could hurt your chances. 5) Don’t get any semester grades “C’s”!. 6) Make certain your SAT scores are sent in to National Merit! Your score should be about a 1960 or higher. There is a specific formula they use and it is posted around here on CC but if you have at least a 2000, you should be fine. This needs to be a one siting score, not multiple sittings super scored. You mentioned you named UF as your first choice on the app so I assume you have already completed it so you should be fine but just wanted to be certain you knew all the important steps.
Sadly, if the Florida Legislature does vote to defund it ( I highly doubt this since it is so new), you could write to your state legislators- both house and senate- and let them know how important this scholarship is to you. You can tell them you would probably go to an out of state school which awards the large NM scholarship if the FIS is defunded.
There are no guarantees in life bit I do know that in most cases, once you qualify and get accepted, the chances of them pulling it once you have started at UF are very slim.
Having said all of the above- you should really check all schools and look into their programs for your desired major. Speak to other students ( upperclassmen) who are in that same program and hear what they have to say. My daughter wants engineering and for the state of Florida, UF is the top. That fact, coupled with the FIS and low state tuition , made her turn away all her other out of state scholarships. It just wasn’t worth it. We made a spreadsheet and extrapolated out her total costs over 5 years ( engineering usually takes 5 years). We also looked at tuition increase trends at the other schools and used that in our formula. You can no longer assume just a 5% increase ( the state of Georgia increased their tuition by 9% incrementally two years in a row!). After doing all that and going on a second, very specific visit, UF was the winner. It might be the winner for you as well but USF may have some really amazing programs as well that might be a better fit for you than UF. So could FSU. You really should talk to students who are getting ready to graduate and hear what their experiences have been.
I have really learned a lot about FIS so if you have any other questions later on, feel free to ask! Best of luck!!
@Anglograce, There are a couple of other threads about FIS here, look back a few months. @Saismom and a couple of other people on here probably know more about FIS than any employee of the Great State of Florida…
My son was NMF and is now spending his FIS as a freshman at FSU. They invited him to the honors program and offered some additional money as well, so it’s worked out great. UF was the only other FL school he was considering but he liked FSU better.
Yes do consider all the Florida schools where you may use the FIS. UF is a wonderful school but is not the best for every major and department. We loved FSU and their physics department but daughter decided to add engineering to the mix and UF excels there so the tough decision was made. USF is another great option as well. Do your research and do not rely on what uninformed people “say” in the great college rivalry hubbub. Make appointments to speak with department heads/ advisors and real students in the major area who are excelling and showing that they are taking advantage of all the schools have to offer. What a difference it made to us. The general tours are just that: general and uninspiring to most.
@saismom @subtropicus Thanks both of you for your replies!!! saismom I still cannot believe that I might actually get that much money from UF…it’s crazy! I have no reason to believe that I won’t become a Finalist - I have great grades, decent EC’s, 2100 SAT, no disciplinary issues…I most likely won’t win the one-time NM award (SAT score too low) but I should definitely be a Finalist. And after that is there anything I have to do to boost my chances of getting the FIS or am I good to go?? Because it blows my mind that I haven’t heard of this scholarship until reading about it on CC. I just feel like more people would be talking about it considering the mindset that students have of UF and its “prestige” here in FL…you’d think students would be more aware of the FIS and would try harder on the PSAT, huh.
However, in the 10-page FIS thread, someone said that last year UF only gave 70 college-sponsored awards even though there were many more qualified Florida NM finalists. Was that a rumor…? If they only give it to 70 kids I feel like my chances of getting it would still be slim. Sorry to be repetitive/overly anxious-sounding but I’m trying to have the best idea possible of my chances. Like I said, it’s all so surreal. I had no idea how big of a deal the PSAT would end up being for me, & plenty of my VERY brilliant friends didn’t even make the semifinalist cut. How’d I get so lucky?
YOU WORKED HARD!!! Get ready to be rewarded but the waiting can be a killer!
I am not sure where you read that about UF giving only 70 college sponsored awards, but it may be true. Consider that my daughter and her friend are from the same HS and are corporate scholars and therefore will not receive the UF sponsored award but still receive the FIS. Also the one time $2500.00 winners will not receive the UF award either but since they are still named a NM scholar, they received the FIS.
You should get the UF sponsored award as long as you are named a scholar and name UF as your first choice. Feel free to share your good news here as soon as you receive it and I am happy to help with any info I may provide. I do have contact info at UF for the gentlemen who handles all the FIS matters and he is very helpful.
Best wishes!!!
@Anglograce The new PSAT is tomorrow and I know juniors who ARE NOT TAKING IT because they are just not into it. They did not do super well as sophomores and did not bother to prep for this one so they are just ditching it.I blame school guidance departments and administrations for not being more explicit in their description of what this one little test could mean to their future education.
@saismom “You should get the UF sponsored award as long as you are named a scholar”
Did you mean “named a Finalist?”
This is my main dilemma: May 1 is the deadline to enroll at UF, but they won’t tell me if I got a college-sponsored award until AFTER May 1. My ability to attend UF is dependent on me getting that award because it will get me the FIS and I NEED the FIS to go there. But I won’t know if I’m getting FIS until AFTER I’ve said “yes” or “no” to UF…but I can’t say “yes” or “no” without knowing if I’m getting FIS… you see my problem.
…unless I can predict, with 98% certainty, that I’ll get the FIS. That being a Finalist and getting into UF is enough. Then I can enroll at UF without the huge risk of later finding out I’m getting NO money.
Is there a chance that if I get into UF, and I become a Finalist, I WON’T get a college-sponsored award?
It’s just. so. stressful. Lol.
Saismom, you’re a real saint for listening to me.
And it’s terrible that juniors are simply not taking the test! My school certainly didn’t express how important the PSAT could be - they just said “Don’t worry about it, it’s just a preview for the SAT”…and they wonder why we’ve had so few NM Finalists over the years…
How about 94% certainty?
The following is from the Official Student Guide for the PSAT/NMQT booklet.
16,000 Semifinalist
15,000 Finalist
You already have the SAT score you need. Just make sure you meet all the requirements for submitting information, have a clean school record, and don’t have Ds or multiple Cs and you should be good. Look at it this way, only 1,000 (~6%) of the NMSF don’t get NMF, the odds are in your favor!
Hopefully next year my D will be in the same position as you, and I will be just as concerned.
@CaucAsianDad Actually I was referring to my likelihood of getting the NM scholar award from UF, it’s one of the awards Finalists can win! This whole thread is operating under the assumption that I’ll be a Finalist. I was asking, basically, “How sure of a thing is my receiving the award from UF once I become a Finalist?” But thanks for your response and good luck to your daughter!!
If I were you, I would call UF and ask if they intend to award the college-sponsored scholarship to every finalist that names them as the first choice college (not including those that win the other types of awards, such as the one directly from NM or the corporate one). It appears that this is what they did last year, but you just never know what could change from year to year. I completely understand your dilemma, @Anglograce, with the May 1st deadline to commit to UF. Perhaps get the contact info for UF from @saismom and give them a call to see what their plans are for the this year’s NM scholarships. Most likely they learned a lot from last year (their first year back to NM) and have a firm plan for this year. Best of luck to you!!
@Mobie101 Yeah that seems like that’s what I’ll have to do. Was hoping that somehow someone had information that I missed - I’ve been scouring the internet & CC forums for anything at all - that would give me a definitive answer, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. But as a bit of good news, after reading through the FIS thread for the 4th or 5th time, I saw that one or two people said they saw a “Predicted NM Scholar award” in their accounts around April, so the scholarships hadn’t been officially announced - that happens after May 1 - but they were pretty much being told, informally, that they were getting the scholarship. At least, that’s what I gathered from those posts. So if UF does that again in April 2016 that would be very helpful… But I am impatient and would like to know even earlier than that how much I can rely on this very confusing award, haha.
Thanks so much again to everyone, I know I kinda turned this thread into my personal outlet for all my FIS-related anxieties, but hopefully this ordeal becomes clearer in the future!!
@Anglograce According to the UF website, the University award is only $500 a year, the rest comes from the state.
http://www.sfa.ufl.edu/news/florida-incentive-scholarship-program/
I can’t imagine UF would have a problem giving a $500 merit award to a NMF, but you never know. Everything I have read uses wording like “to be eligible” and “may be awarded” so I understand your concern.
The state legislature has been approving the FIS program on a yearly basis, so there is no guarantee that it will be available the next fiscal year. That’s one reason for the “hedging” used in the language.
This year they increased FIS funding by 72%, from $4,870,000 to $8,379,000. I think they renamed FIS the Benacquisto Scholarship, after a current republican state senator.
In comparison, Bright Futures funding was reduced 9.9%, to $239.8 million, a reduction of $26 million. This is the seventh consecutive year that the program will fund fewer students.