My D’s came yesterday too (FL). Although realistically I knew she’d get it, I am so glad to see the official notification. I kept worrying that some paperwork had been missed (even though I called to confirm.) One less thing to worry about it!
@tnknes UCF has the Burnett Medical Scholars program that is very popular. It guarantees acceptance to the UCF Medical school for participants who meet their minimum requirements on GPA, MCAT, etc…
Thanks @PPuggle. unfortunately, it looks like the deadline to apply for that program is in Nov. DD is still considering UCF for it honors college though.
Can someone please explain to me if USF and FSU truly are guaranteed the offerings for NMF, because USF says national merit scholars in its description, and the rules pages of FSU also says national merit scholar and goes on to describe the three ways to become a scholar—the NMSC, corporate, or college sponsored scholarship awards. So, do,these schools only give all the benefits to the 7600 of the 15,000 NMF that go on to be NMS?
Not sure what you are asking about “guaranteed”, but if your kid is accepted, is an NMF, and designates FSU or USF as his/her first choice by the deadline, he/she will automatically become one of the approx 7600 NMS by accepting the NM scholarship at one of those schools. If your kid gets either a corporate or NM $2500 scholarship, your kid becomes an NMS and can still accept the Benacquisto from one of the participating Florida schools. However, the amount of the corporate or NM Scholarship will be subtracted from the Benacquisto amount. IOW, it will not stack.
https://www.floridastudentfinancialaidsg.org/PDF/factsheets/FIS.pdf
If you are asking if the award is “guaranteed” for all 4 years, each Florida school appears to have it’s own policy about that. Not sure about USF, but it’s my understanding FSU will grandfather in Benacquisto scholars in the unlikely event the state pulls funding.
Congratulations to all people got the NMF status, and now we have the next step on schedule. Many school have one-day visit event offers National Merit Finalists and their guests the chance to explore the exceptional opportunities available at school.
Does it worth the visit for non-local or OOS people, given most info are available online now ? Especially for UT Dallas?
Thanks a lot!
Both USF and UCF guarantee the scholarship for 4 years even if state pulls funding for the Benacquisto scholars program
" If a student doesn’t know where they’ll commit yet, is it best to list “undecided” for now, rather than randomly choosing one of the schools they’ve applied (and have not yet been accepted to)?"
yes. you can wait to designate your first choice after college acceptances have arrived-up to the mid May NMSF deadline.
congrats to all.
Does anyone know how many NMS attended FSU this past year? I can’t seem to find a NM report for 2019.
Sorry! Posted in the wrong thread.
@amsunshine I think 21. See https://ir.fsu.edu/facts.aspx under “Merit, Achievement, & Hispanic Scholars” and then this to confirm that “Merit” means National Merit. https://ir.fsu.edu/indicatordisp.aspx?ID=scholars
Thanks! That’s helpful. I wonder why so few? The lure of UF? But then again, maybe that’s why FSU can guarantee the scholarship in the event of defunding?
@amsunshine I’m sure UF is #1 in terms of drawing the most. UCF has stated that they are #2 in the state. They had 90 last year. I know that FSU is technically ranked higher than UCF by US News, but for engineering and CS, UCF is better. Plus, the Burnett Medical Scholars program is at UCF which is pretty amazing if the student is pre-med. Otherwise, I’m not sure why FSU doesn’t have more. UCF also guarantees the scholarship in the event of defunding.
My girls were at a programming contest at UF yesterday and now we are torn again. If they stayed in-state, I was pretty sure they were leaning toward UCF until yesterday…
Just my two cents, I think the number of NM at FSU will be increasing a lot. About 330 NMFs applied to FSU this year. The OOS Benacquisto scholarship is less than 2 years old, and in state less than 3 I think. UCF had its own large NMF scholarship for quite a while before Benacquisto, whereas FSU did not. But the word is getting out.
@vistajay where did you find that info about FSU nmf that applied this year??
@amsunshine thanks! Those stats don’t include my twins who are both nmf and applied beginning of Feb.
I think DD is leaning more and more towards UCF. It’s just so hard to turn down that type of offer and Luke is so gosh darn nice. She has been a bit disappointed in some of the other offers she received from the private schools she applied. I think she thought her stats would have earned her more. We are flying out to see UCF next week and I think that will be the true litmus test. I’m hoping she either absolutely loves it or hates it, so it’s a real clear decision. We are still waiting to hear from a few schools and UW makes the most compelling choice for waiting to commit but I think that if she loves UCF on the visit it might still win out over UW. If I am going to be honest, I kind of panic thinking of her going so far. It’s probably the furthest you can possibly get from eastern Washington. And a huge city vs the tiny town we live. (We are 3 hours from a major city- 5 from Seattle). Admittedly though, I’ll probably have a harder time with it then she will.
@2tiredmomma We are in a similar situation. We are in MN and DD is looking at Florida schools because of the offers. We too will be visiting UCF next week to find out if it is a good fit. We are in the watiing game for UF and UCF (she just applied to UCF a few weeks ago) and she doesn’t really have a good back up plan if either of those falls through for some reason. She has been accepted to several other colleges, but we have been disappointed with the offers also. As for Florida, I am not thrilled with the distance from home, but I have a feeling she will thrive. It just seems like the waiting never ends with this college process. It is enough to drive a person crazy. lol
@furmom amsunshine did a great job explaining, but I will add info to address where I think your disconnect is. You wonder about “scholar” vs “finalist”. The key is that USF, UF, UCF, etc will give a NM Scholarship to the NMF who have been accepted and who follow their procedure for the Benaquisto. For example, UCF just asks that you name them 1st choice on one of the lists the NMSC sends to the schools. Some sxhools require that they be listed on the first list to go out. (Luke at UCF makes this part super easy because he sends out emails letting your student know when the lists come out & when he has received a list with your student’s name on it. If you then want to change your 1st choice school, you can. Just be careful as your student can only get one official school scholarship offer. So, watch the dates.)
Basically, the school makes your kid a scholar so they qualify for the Benaquisto.
Why do only half the NMF get named Scholars? Because many don’t go to a college which sponsors college-based scholarships. My D19 is NMF & on a full ride because of it but did not go to a school that officially sponsors NMSC scholarships. Thus, she is not a Scholar.
I agree. My D19 loved all UCF had to offer and had a heck of a time turning down Luke. She knew she would thrive better in a smaller environment even though Orlando, its diverse food choices, the Barnes & Noble just downstairs of her Tower room, the Honors classes, Luke, and UCF’s gorgeous/easy to navigate campus all enthralled her. I hope your D gets a clear feeling from her visit!