I meant to update my list with some updates I have posted since then, and some updates others have posted but I haven’t gotten around to it. One for example was Duquesne - found out about it from a letter my daughter received. Its competitive and only one, but full tuition. Then there are the offers for application fee waiver like Northwestern. U Chicago sent a letter stating that students recognized for CBNRP are considered for generous merit awards. Lists some of the scholarships the students can be eligible for and then says that CBNRP students can expect to receive at least $4000 per year, renewable for 4 years. There are more. I also stumbled on one just the other day. It seemed to only apply for freshman year, but I can’t remember what school it was. I’ll try to remember. Was definitely not a school in my list and I think it was a private school. Cal Poly (San Luis Obispo) also needs to be added, I believe $3,000-4,000/yr. Penn State sent emails saying as NRP student there may be significant scholarship opportunities. There are others to add, but these are the ones off the top of my head to add to the list I made a couple months ago up above. The only one that really went away was the ASU one i think.
here is another one. I had it bookmarked bu we never looked into beyond that:
https://www.evansville.edu/student-financial-services/scholarships-for-entering-freshmen.cfm
Any idea when universities start posting their merit scholarship/tuition information .for the “next” school year? For example, for freshman entering Fall 2023
Looking back, it seems likely that pretty much all universities will have up-to-date info for the 2023-2024 school year on or around October 1st of 2022.
I am trying to estimate merit at U of Arizona for NHRP student. Two questions:
1- calc of GPA- it looks like A = 4.0, B+ and B = 3.0 etc. is this correct?
And an A is a regular course has the same value as an A in an AP course?
Further- a B+ in ANY course and you are out of the running for their top merit?
2- Fine art requirement. Does that apply for NHRP? Are they flexible with substitutions?
3- How do you get through to ANYONE in their scholarship office?!?!
Thanks for the help.
First, this page is a nice, clear summary:
Next, yes, 90-100, aka A-, A, A= all counts as 4.0, and 80-89, aka B-, B, B+ all counts as 3.0.
Finally, I think you will be OK missing a Fine Arts requirement, based on this statement on the link I posted above: " A deficiency is defined in one of two ways, missing a unit of coursework or falling below a 2.0 on a 4.0 scale in a specific subject area. Applicants must have an unweighted overall grade point average of 2.0 (A = 4.0) in each subject area and may not have more than two deficiencies. Students may not have deficiencies in both math and laboratory science or in the same subject area."
Also, if your student as completed any CTE (Career and Technical Education) coursework, that will count in place of the Fine Arts 1-unit requirement.
Ok- so APs really provide no advantage then?
If a kid is dead set on going to U of Arizona and getting the top OOS merit aid, they are better off taking a regular class than AP to assure a higher GPA? A bit strange but if so I get it.
Maybe they take AP credits, which would speed up graduation a semester or 2?
If anyone has a good contact point at the university it would be great- I cannot get through on phone. And email responses are very generic giving me little confidence.
Back to topic- at present, it appears you get their top merit awarded to OOS if you are NHRP (in state tuition + 3,000)? NHRP need not refer to their GPA sliding scale?
Can anyone confirm that. Their scholarship page is a little difficult to understand.
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AP is no benefit to the state of Arizona mandated GPA calculation. But you are correct that in most cases taking AP, and doing well on exam, nets you college credits at UofA.
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Our daughter is also OOS, has a 4.0 calculated GPA, and is NHRP. Her actual award offer is $35000 + $3000 = $38k. This basically means free tuition for four years since they also offer ‘guaranteed tuition’ where the rate will not go up. (A big deal if you believe we will have high inflation next few years, as I do.)
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Is your daughter a Junior this year? I ask because as of LAST year, ASU offered free tuition to OOS NHRPs, but this year that was slashed (by ASU) to half tuition or less. So, depending on if Arizona Universities copy each other or not, there is no guarantee that next year’s HS seniors will have the same merit table from University of Arizona as this year. (I am NOT saying UofA will cut aid, what I am saying is: don’t put all your eggs in one basket.)
Thank you. This is very informative. Yes. She is a junior right now.
I was aware that UofA could follow ASU. I am just hoping they won’t.
If am am right, because of NHRP she could still get that max award even though not a perfect 4.0 (3.97!).
And do you know anything about how they might treat 1/2 unit deficiency on Art? Or does that apply to NHRP?
Kids pack their schedules with tough classes- and Art is usually the sacrifices class.
Have you tried contacting U of Arizona’s Honors program yet? (I was thinking of doing so sometime this spring with the hopes that they might be more responsive and perhaps in the know with regards to the merit aid situation.)
I have not but I will try.
Scholarship office (might be part of financial aid) puts call wait
Times at 2.5 hours, and suggests emailing. But email is expected to be answered “within 2 weeks”- and their answers are lacking to be kind.
???
For the purpose of merit scholarships, the calculation is pretty unforgiving. It only counts the courses that are in the “High School Competency Requirements”, but on those courses it must be a perfect 4.0 to get the $35k + $3k. If you are 3.97 (or even 3.99) the calculation will be $30k + $3k = $33k.
Also while I cannot 100% assert, because being down by 1/2 Arts credit would not bump her out of admission, I do not believe it would harm her chances for merit scholarship either. But someone else on this board may know more than me on that finer point.
The folks in the Honors College are super friendly and super helpful, but I would be shocked if they answer this specific of a merit aid question. At most schools, no one other than the admissions or financial aid teams are allowed to answer finer-detailed case questions like this. Due to risk of giving out incorrect info based on not being subject matter experts on the scholarships.
expect this ^^^. yes.
not NHRP; but had a high stats kiddo. One B in HS in Spanish cost him a total of 16$K i think at AZ a few years ago. It’s AZ’s choice, their rules; and they are very generous overall! But, yes. If they continue their wonderful scholarship, expect a deduction$ for a B. (and if you are serious about this, and your kid is a Junior, perhaps have your kids look at re-taking a class??? just an idea if your school lets it.)
This might be out your wheelhouse, but UofA requires 3 lab sciences. My kid will have 4 at the end of junior year. 3 As and 1 B+. Can she choose which ones to use for purposes of calculating her GPA? If she only needs 3, leave out the 4th which was a B+?
My understanding is that is how they do it. They only count three.
That would be awesome. If we can pick, it could be worth 20,000!
Just wanted to encourage everyone to make sure to calculate your net cost to attend each college under consideration. For example, U of A scholarship sounds so much bigger than Texas A&M’s- at least for Texas residents- I haven’t looked at the OOS award carefully. Full tuition scholarship vs partial tuition sounds like so much more, but we’ve crunched the numbers and UofA’s room and board is a lot higher. So even though Texas A&M is only a partial scholarship (about half the tuition), the net cost for us to send her to A&M is the same as it would be to send her to UofA because the room and board at A&M is so much less. We looked at the specific dorm that she would want and the specific meal plan for each school to get an accurate number. This is just one example. But just a reminder to crunch the numbers for each college being considered because your cost can vary depending on many variables.
Here’s what I can offer to this conversation about UofA and its merit scholarships. I also have a junior NRP recipient and want her to consider UofA. She attends a small private high school where I work and one of my colleagues has a Junior sdaughtercurrently attending UofA in the Honors College. She also attended our school and had the same stats as my daughter (1st in class, 4.0, NRP) She is PreMed and was a recent fellowship award winner from the large $25M donation by the Franke family. The current “word on the street” from her is that this is a huge investment into the honors college and recruiting students.
While I’m not sure about the possibility of the university at large keeping their merit structure next year (fingers crossed they do!) it is widely believed that the Honors College is stepping up their current awards as well. So, I’m hoping that even if the university changes its structure, the Honors College merit could match and cover tuition.
My colleague/friend said that choosing the honors college was the “best decision she ever made” for her daughter…I think it’ll be a great fit for mine too:)
Under the current structure, she would get:
$35000k NonResident Arizona Award
$2000 Barret Honors Scholarship
$3000 Murphy Foundation Scholarship for NRP +$1500 stipend for study abroad
I did see one wrinkle about picking the best 3 of lab sciences. Apparently this cannot be done if one of them was trim in 8th grade.
Can anyone confirm?
Can a kid retake a class at a local college and substitute that grade if better?
It make a big $ difference