Are you on the school mailing lists - get on them for each and all schools of interest. We started with 109 and eventually culled it down to what my daughter applied to.
Many will send you waivers or codes - but not AZ schools and they aren’t cheap.
Sure - on the first link, scroll to the bottom where you see the blue tables. Those are the GPA ones (up to $32K).
Then after you see those, scroll back up to the National Merit Awards. They are a little trickier - click on them.
Or I’ll just put the verbiage for you:
Non-Arizona Semi-Finalists: the value of the original Arizona Tuition Award + $1,500 National Merit Semi-Finalist Award. See “Arizona Tuition Award” for merit review and offer details.
Non-Arizona Residents: the value of the original Arizona Tuition Award + $3,000 National Scholar Award. See “Arizona Tuition Award” for merit review and offer details.
What does it take for NMSC semifinalist besides a SAT score going beyond qualifying based on the PSAT index ? If a student has a C+ in sophomore year and has had a progressive junior year and 2 Bs will that factor in as any impediment? I do not see any place for essays as far as I understand or a specific teacher recommendation but a principal endorsement is needed. Given this, can you please clarify if any other steps are needed and suggest if the grades could impact being a NMF?
UTD gives an application waiver if you go to one of their special Saturday events on campus. (Not exactly sure which one, but I’d have seen it advertised.)
Here is the UTD info that @teamjet referenced. Scholars Day It doesn’t look like they have a virtual option for incoming freshmen. They do, however, have a virtual info session for transfer students (not necessarily scholars) which also offers a fee waiver.
Note that Nov 11 is Veterans Day, so the day before is likely a high school holiday. I’m thinking that if you can’t make it on Nov 11, you might have your student contact the school and ask if there are any options for virtual info sessions and fee waivers.
Is your student a NMSF or are you asking for future reference? In the past, many have asked about grade scenarios and no one knows the answer.
If your student is a NMSF, they should have received instructions, including how to access the application. It is due soon. This is the link to the portal.
I do not have a student applying this cycle so don’t have access to the essay prompt. However, Compass Prep has a lot of good info about the National Merit program. From their NM FAQ page:
NMSC may change the prompt in future years, but it has been the same for many years. It is broad enough that most students are able to use or slightly rework their Common App essay. For the class of 2022, the prompt was:
“To help the reviewers get to know you, describe an experience you have had, a person who has influenced you, or an obstacle you have overcome. Explain why this is meaningful to you. Use your own words and limit your response to the space provided.”
There is not a word limit specified, but the essay must fit within the provided space (approximately 3500 characters). Expect to keep your essay to 600 – 650 words.
We’ve been talking with UTD for a year (S24) and confirmed last week with our admissions rep - student needs to attend one of the official events on campus to get a waiver. We visited on an alternate day from out of state and even that did not qualify, so while already accepted, his application is on hold until we attend Scholars Day to waive the outstanding application fee. ETA: we also attended a virtual information event over the summer.
We went to a reception for honors at Texas Tech yesterday, so if anyone is interested in their full cost of attendance scholarship they only give out about 30 of those per year. I think it’s first come, first served, but I have the contact info for the program coordinator if anyone wants to follow up.
I was also really impressed with their honors program. It’s very high touch, and in addition to the day 1 paid research opportunities, they have a bunch of nice add ons. 100% of honors kids get scholarships for study abroad. They also have a program for what they call externships, which are a couple of day placements within government or agency (the dean gave an example of a kid who spent a day with the State Department followed by a day at the FBI) to get advice or mentoring about career options, with the school picking up all travel expenses and even professional attire for the student. They get sorted into houses in Honors and compete for a House Cup. It seems like they are committed to the model of treating high achieving academics like Division I athletics.
Is there a way to seek NMSC help to ensure that the school does their part and not hold on forwarding the application or miss the 10/11 deadline?
We are in a Tampa high school and disappointed that neither the school nor the principal publicly announced their semi-finalists when many other schools have proudly displayed on their webpages. The guidance counselor waited more than a week to tell the students to get a letter from a teacher and is non-responsive to the student asking for status. Any suggestions? It seems that this not a priority for the school and is causing needless worry.
I know there’s been a lot of Tulsa talk. I was just reading in addition to the full ride yiu get $6k per year. But I’m not sure if anyone has yet posted this article.
My D27 selected University of Minnesota and a stack of scholarships that include two related to NMF status over a school in the U.S. News Top 10 and the debt that would have gone along with that choice. The differences between the two schools as far as perceived educational value aren’t quite as stark as they may seem to most people because D is in a small, highly selective program. But it felt wise to be financially savvy when the end goal is career path without a lot of job security. We’re only a month in, but so far D is feeling challenged by her classes, loves her classmates, and is not looking back with any what-ifs. As a parent, I do worry the professional network post-graduation won’t be as strong, but only time will tell on that point.
Don’t know the major but the network is often over stated IMHO. UMN is an excellent school. If she’s a hustler and grinder, she’ll do ok relative to bigger names.
Is this UM Twin Cities? Are you in state or out of state? Did you get more than the $11k currently listed on their website as possible scholarships for NMF? We took it off our list b/c of cost, but program wise it would be high on the list. So more insight would be helpful, especially if it’s out of state. If you’re willing to share how much non-competitive merit D got, that would be super helpful. Thanks
Yes, UMN Twin Cities, which it turns out is fantastic with stacking scholarships. In addition to the NMF, D got an additional $19K in merit. Most of this was from the National Scholarship for students in any state but MN or the reciprocal states, plus some other random scholarship that isn’t on the website. We are from a small East Coast state, so I’d imagine that might have played into us getting the max National Scholarship, which can range from $2.5K to $15K.
“Is there a way to seek NMSC help to ensure that the school does their part and not hold on forwarding the application or miss the 10/11 deadline?”
Call NMSC directly and tell them the trouble you are having motivating the school to do their part! The NMSC people are super friendly and helpful. I know they have provided extensions in the past for students in similar situations. They are also glad to let you know the completion status of your application, e.g. “We have received the essay, but not the letter of rec.” etc.
Thank you for this detailed review! Would you be willing to cross post it on the following thread? We have only a little info about Texas Tech on the thread and could really use more.