Undecided major - does anyone do that anymore? Florida residency. Adaptable kid who doesn’t want debt, so no location constraints.
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NMSF agree with the above. NMF, Florida Benaquisto no contest!
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Your son will be able to go to any FL public school for completely free with NM. UF, FSU, UCF, USF, and FAU are all fantastic schools. Plus, if you like USF, they give you even more stuff (5k yearly stipend, 2k study abroad grant, etc.) Being able to go to any of these schools for FREE has absolutely changed my life, and I would recommend your son goes down the same path. Maybe check out Bama and Tulsa if he wants to go OOS, but he’s going to have tons of options regardless. If you’d like to look more into this, search up the Benacquisto Scholarship. Absolutely life-changing money for any sane college student.
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Just focus on Florida publics then and keep it simple. As mentioned google the Benacquisto. Not a better scholarship out there for NMF.
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Let me start off by saying there are many students who enjoy the STEM MBA program and stick with it. Many who drop it their junior year before going into the graduate portion. My son dropped it during his 3rd semester.
We’ve connected with many others who have had experiences similar to his. My son takes his school seriously, wants to learn and is a dedicated and ethical student. Every week during the undergrad MBA classes they needed to do interviews for their projects. Team members weren’t doing their work/ slacking, some were making up interviews of fake people, projects were slapped together for the class. He/ we understand the value of group/ project work, but he wasn’t learning from the way it was a hurry up and get work done and make it up if you need to mentality.
Also, be sure you understand the full cost. The STEM MBA is 4 additional semesters. Doable for many NMF kids who are coming in with credits. But there’s a max of graduate classes you can take as an undergrad, so you’ll just need to plan accordingly.
My son is currently planning to do a traditional MBA and engineering masters at UA, hoping that the graduate level work is organized better/ has more dedicated students than the undergrad portion.
My son once commented that he thinks the STEM MBA is a huge selling point for prospective parents. I know we were sold on it. It wasn’t a good fit for my son at all, but I also wouldn’t tell anyone not to do it.
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This is from Sept 2022, but posting this here for anyone that’s looking/ curious now…
We just received the invitation to apply email. Also, we did not sign up for college search. Just normal college board notifications. It’s sneaky how they make it sound like you have to sign up for college search.
Got one about the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, which is not the same thing as the College Board Recognition Program. (If I recall, HSF offers need-based scholarships.) We have not seen the email we are waiting for about CBRP (formerly known as NHRP).
Is that odd? Regardless, it means applications are open and you can self nominate if no email came.
I’ve seen these Florida schools listed as Benaquitso/ In State only. But also saw that UCF has limited NMF scholarships. Do any of these others offer good NMF scholarships for OOS?
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Florida A&M University
Florida Atlantic University
Florida International University
Florida State University
University of Central Florida
University of Florida
University of Miami
FIU is a full ride for either in-state or OOS. So is USF. Neither has any limits to the number of scholarships that I’m aware of like UCF does.
FSU has waiver of OOS tuition differential plus $3000/year (nearly full tuition).
None of the others you listed have anything substantial for OOS NMFs that I’m aware of.
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Every time a student takes a college board test, there is a box on the test itself under the student’s personal information that asks for them to opt in or out of “a college search/outreach” or something phrased similarly. Depending on the proctor, it is really not emphasized and could easily be overlooked. I did not know that I had signed up for college search my ninth grade year (during the PSAT 8/9) until I checked my junior year. It could be possible that during the test you or your D opted in/did not check either box.
She did not. In any case, we manage all the subscriptions online. My son checked the box at some point so he gets loads of junk mail from colleges even though we have since unchecked it.
Did you ever receive an email from CBRP? I was just curious as to whether anyone had received an invitation to apply. I know there is the option to self nominate, but I’m not really sure when “early spring” would be. Do you know when the invitations to apply are typically sent?
My ‘25 received it a few weeks ago.
Never received it. I’m guessing “early spring” could mean April, though he’ll probably self-nominate if that’s open now. (Thanks for reminding me - I almost forgot about this.)
Was the email from College Board or Big Future? We have received several emails about applying for a variety of scholarships through Big Future–some with similar sounding names, but nothing specifically says “National Recognition Program.” I’ve told my son to watch for the email, but he doesn’t really know what he’s looking for.
It came from Big Future on 2/24 - the actual address was collegeboard@e.collegeboard.org
Re: (Name) You’ve Been Selected to Apply for a College Board Award
I received a similar one from the same address on 2/16
Re: (Name) Has Been Selected to Apply for an Award
Update on CBRP: S doesn’t recall an email, so today I had him sign into his College Board account to self nominate. Lo and behold, immediately upon signing in, there was a pop-up window that said something like, “Congratulations! You are invited to apply…” From there, the process of “applying” was quick. The student just needs GPA and name/email of high school counselor (who presumably electronically verifies GPA).
What was odd was that the GPA scale wasn’t out of 4.0, but a drop-down of letter grades with % ranges. The choices weren’t really applicable to his school’s grading, nor relevant to the CBRP which is also looking for the number on a 4.0 (weighted or unweighted), minimum being 3.5.
Today, as a homeschool “principal,” I received a letter from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation with a list of my students “who will be recognized as either Semifinalists or Commended Students in the fall.“ (Of course, the list just my S24’s name.)
It does say that the Selection Index cut off for this year is 207.
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