It could be that your student isn’t looking for liberal arts colleges, and that’s kept Carleton off your radar. It’s a pretty well-known college among students looking for that kind of experience.
The advice makes sense if cost is not the single highest priority a family has in examining their options. It looks like Carleton is betting on the financial status of their prospective applicant/family pool with this advice; that seems pretty telling.
I’m guessing Liberal Arts Colleges weren’t your family’s focus.
Agreed:
Class of '23, approx. 4-year COA at Carleton after NMF scholarships: $340,000
Class of '23, approx. 4-year COA at Tulsa after NMF scholarships: $0
My family’s probably considered upper-middle class, we’re doing pretty well financially…but wow, I can’t imagine paying a delta of $340k for Carleton over Tulsa.
I agree here. The last couple of years, I know three different kids for whom Carleton was first choice, but Carleton offered each of them very little aid of any kind. In each case, the kids went to comparable LACs (two to Macalester, one to Colorado College) for thousands less than Carleton.
(deleted - found answer to my question 
)
UCF OOS $19,477 per semester
OOS tuition waived reduced to
$11,811 same as Instate
UCF Award $10,000 + NM $250 = $10,250
(short $1,561)
At the UCF presentation last week, the breakdown had a surplus of about $1500/semester for OOS kids, and that was with a more expensive dorm and the most expensive meal plan.
Exactly. I crunched the numbers with 15 hours of tuition and the Lake Claire dorm. Lake Claire has a kitchen. I didn’t add a meal plan as that is not necessary or recommended by students. My kid at UF rarely buys books. I added a parking pass. The student would be responsible for their own meals and books and personal items. This compares pretty equally with my kid on Benacquisto at UF. My UF kid has an overage of more than $1500 every semester so the UCF $20,000 is more than enough.
I misunderstood, sorry. I thought you were saying that the student would be $1500 short and have to pay out of pocket, instead of getting that as a refund.
This is what was at the meeting last week
Fall 2023 Expenses
• Tultlon: $2.971.92
• 14 credit hours
Housing $3,440.00
Towers
Meal Plan: $2,480.00
All Access 7 PLUS
Total $8,891.92
A student would be $1500 short of the accepted full COA but would actually have $1500 of refund with their numbers. In reality they would probably rake 15 hours as it might be mandatory. But without books, meal plan, lessor dorm etc, the refund would be substantially higher.
FyI Also, keep in mind the Florida schools require 9 summer hours to graduate. IN theory, UCF wont waive OOS tuition for this. Some students have used internships etc. to qualify for these hours at various Universities. A UCF official suggested asking for a waiver due to a lack of summer funding with your scholarship.
Soooo I have no idea if my S23 will get Finalist - according to posts on here, his grades will likely be too low. Do we apply to some of the schools with big NMF scholarships now, or do we wait until the new year to get word on Finalist status before applying? The bigger scholarship schools in Florida are an example - a couple would be a good fit but no way we could afford them without the Finalist package.
He’s tending toward not applying until we know - what do you all think?
I believe one needs a 3.5 GPA but some schools offer merit for a high standardized test: U Alabama
| Scholarship | Test Score | GPA | Yearly Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Presidential | 32-36 ACT or 1420-1600 SAT | 3.50+ | $28,000 |
| UA Scholar | 30-31 ACT or 1360-1410 SAT | 3.50+ | $24,000 |
| Foundation in Excellence | 29 ACT or 1330-1350 SAT | 3.50+ | $15,000 |
| Foundation in Excellence | 30-36 ACT or 1360-1600 SAT | 3.00-3.49 | $15,000 |
| Collegiate | 28 ACT or 1300-1320 SAT | 3.50+ | $10,000 |
| Capstone | 27 ACT or 1260-1290 SAT | 3.50+ | $8,000 |
| Capstone | 28-29 ACT or 1300-1350 SAT | 3.00-3.49 | $8,000 |
| Crimson Legends | 25-26 ACT or 1200-1250 SAT | 3.50+ | $6,000 |
| Crimson Legends | 27 ACT or 1260-1290 SAT | 3.00-3.49 | $6,000 |
Not a Florida school, but University of Tulsa offers what looks like a great scholarship for Semifinalists. The university, along with the Oklahoma Board of Regents and the Board of Trustees, will invest over $265,000 per student (estimated $66,000 per year for four years) through the National Merit Semifinalist Package.
Oh, we definitely applied to U of Tulsa! Haven’t heard about acceptance but FINGERS CROSSED!
DS23 was already accepted to U of Maine with a full ride - we need to plan a visit there but it’s so tough between work and school and activities, not to mention $$$,
Deleted
Other big guaranteed scholarships for National Merit Semifinalists past Maine and Tulsa:
Abilene Christian – full tuition plus $1500
Alabama – $28k/year
Harding – full tuition
Louisville – $28k/year (requires 3.5 GPA)
Northern Arizona – full tuition plus a little
Ole Miss – full tuition and room
Southern Miss – full tuition
My D2023 has now applied to UCF and UA with housing deposits at both. If she makes the first 40 at UCF then she is leaning UCF otherwise she will attend UA.
Is this for the first 40 students or they choose 40 from their applicant pool? BTW, my son loves UA.
The first 40 in March who have the first choice designee.