FIS National Merit Finalists Latest Info

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Florida
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Hello all,

I spoke with UF admissions today and the new person who will be overseeing The FIS program for UF is Jessica Roth. This is how the process will work. If you are fairly certain you want to attend UF, you should definitely indicate UF as your first choice on the NM portal now if you have not done so already.NM will send their initial list of NM finalists, who indicated UF as first choice, to UF beginning in February. UF will do their best to get the initial NM scholarship offer letters out to those students who have accepted the UF offer of enrollment and paid the deposit some time in March but this could be a bit delayed. As of this time, ALL accepted and enrolled( paid the deposit) state of Florida residents who have named UF as their first choice school and who DO NOT HAVE A CORPORATE NM scholarship, will be offered the UF scholarship which will then make them eligible for the full FIS. This is what the letter looked like LAST YEAR. Obviously Krista Scott is no longer the contact person.

Greetings from the University of Florida Office of Admissions!

Congratulations! You have been identified as a Finalist by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), entitling you to a College-sponsored Merit Scholarship®.

The College-sponsored Merit Scholarship is a $2,000 package awarded over four consecutive years. You will receive $250.00 each fall and spring semester for eight consecutive semesters provided you:

were not awarded a one-time National Merit® $2500 Scholarship or a Corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship®,
indicated the University of Florida as your “first-choice” through NMSC,
maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0, and
maintain full-time enrollment with a minimum completion of 24 semester hours at the University of Florida (including fall, spring, and summer semesters).
Please review the attached scholarship acceptance agreement carefully and retain copy for your records. In addition to this email, you will also receive a hardcopy of your agreement in 5 to 10 business days. In order to accept this award, you must return a signed copy of your agreement to the Office of Admissions no later than June 1, 2015 via mail or email:

By mail: Both student and parent/guardian must sign the agreement and mail it back to the Office of Admissions:

UF Office of Admissions

201 Criser Hall

PO Box 114000

Gainesville, FL 32611

By email: Both student and parent/guardian must sign the agreement. Scan both sides of the original and email:

If we do not receive this agreement by 1 June 2015, we will assume you have declined the scholarship offer. If you choose to mail your agreement, it must be postmarked by 1 June 2015. All agreements must have authentic signatures. It is still important that you have confirmed your enrollment with the Office of Admissions by May 1, 2015.

The College-sponsored Merit Scholarship® is part of your total financial aid package. As you may be eligible for need-based assistance from the Office for Student Financial Affairs, we strongly encourage you to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). If you have any questions about this award or changes to your enrollment plans, please contact Krista Scott at (352) 294-0967 or e-mail at krista.scott@admissions.ufl.edu. Our office commends you for all of your success, and we hope you choose to join the Gator Nation!

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Hope this answers your questions! Good luck!!

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When you say “eligible for the full FIS” does that mean there’s still a chance we might not get it? Or does “eligible” mean we definitely get it? Because I won’t enroll at UF if I don’t 100% know I’m getting the FIS. I’m pretty sure I’ll be a finalist & pretty sure I’ll get into UF. But I’m crazy paranoid that I’ll enroll and basically commit to UF & still not get the FIS.

Paranoia aside, this is amazingly helpful, and you are a godsend. Thanks so much

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Yes you will get the FIS if you are named a finalist, you are accepted and enroll in UF, you fill out the UF scholarship agreement they send you and return it in time and meet all the requirements (parents sign etc…). The Florida legislature will most likely retain this scholarship program since lord Voldermort actually chose to fund it in his budget and it has only been around for two years and I assume the intended purpose (to retain smart kids in the state of Florida) is being realized and that makes everyone happy. Now have a great senior year and chill.

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@saismom, that was very nice of you to call and then post that info for the current FIS hopefuls! I remember what a great resource you were last year, and it is so generous that you are continuing to help others this year, too!!

@Anglograce, I believe you will also have to accept your NM college-sponsored scholarship through the NM portal, if I am remembering correctly. @saismom, did your daughter have to accept the corporate scholarship through the NM portal or was that handled by the corporate sponsor?

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I think for the corporate she did accept it on the portal. She handled it so not certain. Cannot tell you about the college sponsored ones other than I know the letter and agreement were sent by email and snail mail.

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OMGGGGG That would be awesome… now I’ll be paranoid UF may limit the number of NMF they admit so that they can afford to give them to everyone… with the football year they’ve had and probably at least 50 kids applying from our high school there are certainly no gaurantees… we have no alumni in our family and several of the others from my daughter’s school do… at least she’s the only NMSF and hopefully since we didn’t get a letter yet she’s safe for finalist. Feb 12th still feels a long way off lol My daughter’s acceptances are all over the map. Accepted to Michigan UTexas and UVA but deferred at UNC and Tulane, so UF could certainly go either way.

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@fbhsmom UF puts very little weight on being a legacy, don’t worry about it. Also, UF wants as many NMF as they can get. They love having the state pay FIS, as it’s guaranteed funds, directly deposted (tuition and fees) into thier accounts. As long as the state is willing to fund FIS, UF (and the other state schools) are more than happy to take the funds.

Good Luck!

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Thanks @Gator88NE I hope you are right! We have our fingers crossed!!!

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Well stated @Gator88NE . It is a great way for UF to draw NM Finalists without using their own funds like UCF used to do. Back in the day, ( last year) UCF put us up in a nice hotel and toured us around campus in a golf cart to woo my kid and her buddies there. They are super nice but now they too, will have the state of Florida pay for top kids to attend.I had mentioned in a previous post that UF did reject a NM finalist from my daughter’s school two years back but she was accepted into Cornell. That was before UF participated in NM and when the FIS was just starting and had not been fully implemented. While I do believe that UF has a mainly holistic admissions process, I think, in general, most NM finalists typically have the qualities UF is seeking.

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Wondering of any accepted kids have received the email from UF yet.

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if

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Have not heard but I doubt it would be this early. Did your student list UF as her first choice? If she did not, I doubt she will hear from UF this early.

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So I got into UF & made Finalist, but my parents and I decided to call UF for ourselves and confirm everything regarding this scholarship before I made any decisions. Unfortunately we haven’t received a call back. We called for the first time the Tuesday after decisions were released & were redirected to voicemail. Then after another week we called one more time and were redirected to a different person’s voicemail. Idk what to do now but wait. The anticipation is killing me because housing deadlines will be coming up soon and I just want an official answer before I make the big decision of enrolling or not. It’s nerve-wracking to be waiting but I guess I have no other choice. They’ll call back soon enough, right…?

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@Anglograce I am sorry you have not received a call back but email is actually a lot more efficient. Look for a pm from me.

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Hello! My daughter is a NMF and was admitted to UF. She’s paid her registration & housing deposits and is currently finishing up her application for the honors college. I hope she gets accepted & chosen for Hume Hall. She needs the extra room! :wink:

I have two questions:

What happens if my daughter is awarded a corporate scholarship that is less than $2000 over 4 years? If she has to accept it, how will that work with FIS over 4 years? My husband works for Insperity. I have no idea how much their scholarship is. She was automatically put in for the scholarship based on her NMSC application last October-- we did not submit a specific corporate application.

Are any of the NMFs who have been admitted to UF applying for scholarships (aside from bright futures)? I’m not sure if she should be applying as a back up?

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@KJWeaver The corporate scholarship simply takes the place of the UF NM Scholarship. You cannot receive both. In terms of the FIS, it doesn’t matter. As long as you are a “Named” scholar- you receive the FIS. PM me if you have more questions and you can also call me but I don’t want to give my phone number out on a public forum but am happy to help! My daughter is currently in Hume and will stay through sophomore year.

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Question 1- The amount of the corporate award will have no bearing on the FIS. The $2000 amount you are concerned about is ONLY in reference to the UF or school award which your daughter would not receive if she is named an Insperity corporate scholar. I forgot to mention the NM folks are awesome! You can call them and tell them you are specifically inquiring about the corporate scholarship for Insperity and want to know the rules for it

Question 2- My daughter came in with several private scholarships as well. They have no bearing on the FIS but may have her end up having to pay taxes! Yes that is correct- a portion of ALL scholarships is subject to taxes if it is not entirely used for tuition and required fees.Room and board benefits are taxable which means that portion of the scholarship THAT IS NOT used for specifically tuition and fees is considered taxable. Many kids are too lazy or just plain burned out to apply for more scholarships but it is so worth it.

Talk to NMSC again and ask them exactly what the rules/guidelines are for Insperity. Some corporate awards are limited to just a few while others award ALL NM finalists. Either way, your daughter is good to go for UF as even if she does not receive the Insperity corporate NM award, she will be named a UF NM scholar and will receive that award and will be eligible for the FIS.

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Thank you so much!! That’s awesome information. I appreciate it so much. My daughter would definitely want to apply for more scholarships to bank for graduate school-- after taxes! :wink: I’ll definitely call NMSC to ask about the Insperity scholarship if we don’t get the info in the next couple of weeks. Still waiting for the UF package to arrive. Hopefully my daughter will meet yours at Hume next year!!

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Our area had several scholarships that were just for engineering and science majors so she was able to take advantage of them and it was a relatively small pool they were pulling from so the numbers were in her favor. If you have any questions at all about honors, Hume, how to understand the financial aid page and the bursars office, AP scores and credit or engineering, I am happy to help. UF will contact her by email regarding National Merit. She will be asked to accept the offer of the scholarship. She will only “accept” if she does not receive the Insperity corporate. Either way, she will receive the FIS.