Does anyone know about NMF scholarship at the Univ of Maryland College Park?
I would like to know it too 
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I think the only risk is getting offered a NM scholarship and then getting in to a school that gave you more money or you would prefer to go to. So for me, my NM schools are Chicago, USC, and Florida. Florida is basically an in-state full ride, USC is 1/2 tuition, and Chicago is $4k, but it’s Chicago. So I decided to not put anything first until I know where I am going. If, for example, I put USC first because it is such a great school with an amazing NMS and then got in to Chicago, I would want to be able to consider Chicago and not lose the NM money (which is just a drop in the bucket of Chicago’s $80k all-in, but it’s something). But if USC already awarded me a NMS then I could not get one from Chicago.
So I would leave it blank until you know where you want to go. Just make sure you make your choice by the school’s and National Merit’s deadline–whichever is earlier.
However, if you have a clear first choice that would trump everything else no matter where you got in, then I think there is no risk in putting that first and changing it if you don’t get in.
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UMaine is fairly unique in that they give scholarships based on SF, not finalist, standing so there is no need to designate them as a first choice.
I know there are quite a few parents on this thread that have been thru this process before, so wondering if anyone has any experiene or has heard much feedback on the University of Alabama NM Scholarship? I am aware how generous the $ is, and have a son who is looking at engineering programs, but hadn’t really thought seriously about Alabama. Now I think he realizes he really should be looking at it closer. If anyone has visited or has any feedback, could you share your thoughts?
Both of my DS’s briefly looked at Alabama based on the $$. It was just too remote for them (we live in CA). They found other schools that they favored more for a variety of reasons.
I always advocate for Arizona State. They have a strong engineering school. They cover 100% of tuition.
Thanks for the info. Ironically, we have classified ASU as too far for us as we are east coast.
Fair. Compare travel cost and ease of travel for all schools. We eliminated several because the challenge of getting to a nearby airport from school was too much. We have a DS at Notre Dame. Travel is not easy for that one, but we have made it work. ASU is a short uber ride or light rail ride from the airport. American and Southwest have a number of flights in and out. That would be one of my ‘Cons’ for Alabama.
@mom2collegekids is a good resource for U Alabama. I believe she had one or two kids graduate from engineering programs there (I believe they were NM scholars as well, but I might be remembering incorrectly). Hopefully, if she is still around, tagging her will get a response that is helpful. Otherwise, you might want to search for her posts about UA.
My older son recently graduated from Alabama. He was not a NMF, but did get the full tuition scholarship, and did honors / Blunt. It was a great experience for him - good match for his personality, and did well. With the 8 semester scholarship, he ended up with a BA/MA. One downside was less support for study abroad - we ended up having to do most of it on our own, including working on a pretty long contract in french. But overall, a great undergrad experience. Ps, we’re in the midwest; more than 1/2 of UA students are out-of-state, and he’s connected with UA people near us, and in western states.
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Thanks so much for that info…I will search her posts for sure. Kind of new to this so
the advice on navigating the CC site is appreciated as well. 
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It is great to hear your son had a great experience and that he made friends from other parts of the country. My son has a good option at our state college, but it is mostly in-state kids and I think a school with a lot of kids from across the country is attractive to him… and I am not sure he wants to study abroad… so that may be good too. 
Thank you for the info!
My daughter graduated from Alabama in 2016, but not engineering. The engineering building was finished while she was there so it’s less than 10 years old. It is fantastic looking, and huge. She met her computer science major husband there. My nephew is a junior with a tuition scholarship in Nursing. They made friends from all over the country. She’s from Tennessee, husband New Orleans and nephew Rhode Island. When my daughter stepped on campus for a tour, she knew it was for her. It was a week after seeing Vanderbilt. She applied to other schools because I wanted her to have choices. We could have been one and done. She never changed her mind.
Tuscaloosa is a nice size city. Kids can do a lot without a car, although having one or a friend with one is good for Walmart and Target runs.
The college kids are nice and polite. Most are career minded, yet fun loving. They are generally from lower middle class to upper middle class families, but doesn’t seem to be the super rich. It wasn’t odd for kids to have a job or to not have one.
My daughter likes to say everyone minors in football, and she wasn’t a football fan before attending. She attended every home game. If you ever get the chance to attend a football game the tailgating is an event in itself and something to see.
Fraternities and sororities are big, but aren’t a necessity. My daughter joined the Christian Sorority in freshman spring. Neither of the guys joined fraternities. They all were involved in other activities, some career related, others just for fun. My daughter and her husband both have jobs in their fields. Nephew shouldn’t have a problem getting one after graduation.
They live in Texas now and they watch football games with Alumni groups at restaurants occasionally and attended a football game with the group this year. You will learn to say Roll Tide and might even get one in an unexpected area. There are Alumni everywhere.
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Once I knew my son would get NM I told him he had to apply to at least one school with a very generous scholarship package and AL was it. He’s still waiting on other offers but AL has a lot going for it. He’s not a football kid but he LOVES marching band. I believe their scholarship is also for five years so kids have been able to get a master’s, especially if they’re coming in with IB/AP credits. Definitely worth checking out.
@amsunshine your post on the UF thread about the bill removing the OOS Benaquisto was a little concerning to me. To my understanding UCF and FSU (although not UF) have guaranteed funding of the Benacquisto to the 2021 Class of NMF in the event it would be removed from federal funding. However, you mentioned that the bill could be amended so that various amounts of money would be offered each year, totaling less than the COA.
I am worried that if the bill drops the Benacquisto amount but not completely eliminates it, we will not be reimbursed by these schools up to the COA. For instance, we could theoretically be stuck with only an OOS waiver from Benacquisto, as technically we are still recieving the Benacquisto. Do you think it is still possible that UCF and FSU CO2021 commits could could lose the COA after their first year?
I will likely end up emailing financial aid offices but if anyone could offer input right now that would be invaluable.
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How much of UCF’s NM funding is state support vs university support? My undergrad (Houston) used to fund full COA for NMF. When it cut back a bit on it to only “cover the cost of tuition and required fees, including a $1000 undergraduate research stipend and a $2000 study abroad stipend,” it still grandfathered the other NMFs on campus. Hopefully there wasn’t much ill will in the later classes but classes don’t interact with each other a whole lot and each person makes their own determination of where to attend.
Hope UCF and FSU have enough funding set aside to fund all the ones on campus if the state pulls NMF specific funding, especially for OOS.
First, the thing to keep in mind is that this has not passed yet. I do think it’s a good idea to be vigilant and I will be keeping a watchful eye on this legislation as it could directly impact my daughter at FSU.
That said, I believe UCF had its own full ride scholarship before the OOS Benacquisto went into effect. It’s somewhat likely they may just switch back to what they were doing before, BUT I highly recommend contacting Luke vanBlaricom(sp?) about this. He is very helpful and may be able to offer some insight.
As far as FSU, I can only offer my own personal anecdote, which is: last year, we contacted them to inquire about whether they would guarantee the scholarship in the event the state defunded it. The response from FSU was they would. I still highly recommend that if you are considering FSU to contact them to see if their position has changed.
With regard to UF, we also contacted them last year to see if they would guarantee the scholarship in the event of defunding. Their response was a hard “no”.
Your intent to contact all of the Florida colleges you’ve applied to is a good one – please do follow up and do your due diligence. I don’t think this is a moment to panic, but just keep abreast of the news.
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As of right now, UCFs COA funding comes fully from the state government. I am hoping that they will grandfather us through even if the bill doesn’t completely eliminate the benacquisto. It seems as if the Benacquisto is completely removed, they will grandfather us. However, there is grey area if the Benacquisto is not removed but cut back, are the universities still obligated to fund us the COA? I don’t know.
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All Benacquisto funding is from the state, only.
Thank you @amsunshine, that is reassuring and very helpful.
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