FYI...Bama's NMF scholarship is still available for this fall....

Paying for College National Merit Aid
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<p>I spoke with the Alabama Scholarship director this week and she said that they would still award their NMF scholarship to a prospective student for this fall.</p>

<p>So if any NMF is not happy with their current situation, send me a PM or whatever, and I'll tell you who to contact to expedite admissions and scholarship award. </p>

<p>The NMF Scholarship consists of...</p>

<p>Full tuition (including future increases and including OOS costs)</p>

<p>Housing (Honors housing can be chosen with no extra charge)</p>

<p>Laptop computer</p>

<p>one time $2,000 for study abroad or summer classes or internship</p>

<p>$1,000 per year </p>

<p>For an OOS student in honors housing, this scholarship is easily worth about $120k.</p>

<p>I don't know how long this will be available, but for now it is. I know of 3 kids who've recently snapped it up. The process took about a week once transcripts were sent.</p>

<p>Here's a link to the school - the campus is gorgeous <a href="http://ua.edu/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://ua.edu/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>I forgot to add…</p>

<p>If the student majors in Engineering or Comp Sci, then the student will get $2500/yr more.</p>

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<p>Great deal and I hope somebody can benefit from it.</p>

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<p>I know of 3 that probably are applying now.</p>

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<p>Gosh, I’m glad I posted this. Received another PM requesting info. </p>

<p>I guess there are kids out there that aren’t happy with their FA packages.</p>

<p>BTW…NMFs are also accepted into the Honors College. The courses are very LAC-like - very small (15 kids) and very discussion oriented. I’ve been lucky to sit in a couple (it makes me wish I could go back to school again!!! LOL)</p>

<p>FYI…the app process is super easy…takes like 5 minutes. No essays, no recs. Admission is by stats; scholarship is by NMF status.</p>

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<p>Does this apply to transfer students? I’m currently completing my freshman year now.</p>

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<p>I don’t think so. NMF scholarships are for incoming freshmen.</p>

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<p>interesting. 228 PSat, class of 2011, do you think this will be available next fall?</p>

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<p>Almost sure it will be. They’ve offered it for the past 5 or so years. I don’t think they plan on changing it. It’s been wildly successful.</p>

<p>they are given to EVERY NMF…these are not competitive.</p>

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<p>Most of the schools require that you declare the school giving you a scholarship as your first choice. The deadline for that was April 31. So, I’m surprised it’s still available. Good to know in case there are last hour changes :)</p>

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<p>Most of the NMF Bama scholarship is not run thru NMCorp, so NMCorp can’t dictate any deadlines. The only thing a student <em>might</em> lose is the $1k per year. They’d still get the free tuition, free housing, and study abroad and laptop.</p>

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<p>Bama must work differently than other schools offering the scholarship. I pulled this as an example off the OU site: [FAQ</a> - OU Prospective Students - The University of Oklahoma](<a href=“http://www.ou.edu/go2/home/nationalmerit/faq.html#nationalmeritprocess]FAQ”>http://www.ou.edu/go2/home/nationalmerit/faq.html#nationalmeritprocess)</p>

<p>"College choice is the school that you designate with NMSC as the school that you plan to attend. It is important because the school that you have designated is the only school that can give you a College-sponsored Merit Scholarship award.</p>

<p>How do I change my college choice?
You can change your college choice in writing with NMSC as many times as you would like between when you send your Merit Scholarship Application in to NMSC and the NMSC April 27, 2010 deadline to name a college choice</p>

<p>At Bama, you lose you laptop if you don’t meet the deadlines:</p>

<p>“For National Merit Finalists, if you list The University of Alabama as your college of choice with the National Merit Corporation by their designated deadline and register for any Bama Bound orientation session by June 1, you will receive a free laptop computer when you enroll.”</p>

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<p>There is a lot of confusion on National Merit Scholarships.</p>

<p>In reality when a college gives a NM Scholarship, there are two components.</p>

<p>First component is the National Merit Component and this is governed by the rules of NMSC. For example (don’t flame me if these numbers are wrong) the minimum is $2000 and the maximum is $8000 and these scholarships can be given over 4 years. Some may give $500 a year for 4 years, others $2500 one time, and still others $2000 a year for 4 years. For this component, a student has to report the school to NMSC who will then forward it on the particular college and there are deadlines.</p>

<p>College component. In addition, Colleges can give additional goodies and add on’s: free tuition, room and board, lap tops, iTouches, summer funding, allowances, admissions to honors college etc. These are not strictly National Merit Scholarships as they are not endorsed by NMSC but most colleges and students call them National Merit Scholarships as they are given to National merit finalists and often given together with the first component.</p>

<p>To be officially called a National Merit Scholarship winner you must get the National merit component. In colleges who do not have their own add ons (ivy league etc.) all the winners have got the scholarship from a National Merit source and through NMSC. </p>

<p>For the colleges that give the add-ons, you could conceivably get only the add on’s and not the national merit component (which is usually very small compared to the add-ons). So if you only get the add on’s, you cannot call yourself a National Merit Scholarship winner (you are National Merit Finalist) but you get almost everything that a scholarship winner in that college gets. At the end the semantics may not matter much.</p>

<p>U of Alabama wants to attract more NMF’s and they are willing to give the add-ons to any NMF even if they are not eligible for the National merit component as they did not designate Alabama on time with NMSC. Obviously the students who nominated U of Alabama on time, will get the NM component also and can be called National Merit Scholarship winners. </p>

<p>I hope this explains what is happening.</p>

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<p>mazewanderer: thank you very much for the insight</p>

<p>mom2collegekids: have you seen the alabama campus? if so, how is it?</p>

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<p>It is BEAUTIFUL…really one of the most beautiful campuses I’ve ever seen.</p>

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<p>I want to bump this post to 2nd Mom2collegekids remarks about the University of Alabama. If your class of 2011 student ends up a NMF you really should do yourself a favor and put Alabama on your list of must sees. The campus is gorgeous and state of the art on technology ad facilities. Also, I can say that hands down, Bama had the absolute best dorms of any school we visited, well ahead of our previous favorite, WASHU.</p>

<p>My kid is one of the 3 M2K mentioned in an April post as being a late comer to apply for a NMF scholarship at UA, and I’m happy to say that all went well and D will be in the honors college this fall majoring in biology. She’ll enjoy small honors classes, interesting freshman seminars, and a wealth of campus activities. </p>

<p>The NMF scholarship at the University of Alabama includes full tuition, honors dorm suites with private bedrooms, a laptop, $1000 stipend, and study abroad money. we’re pinching ourselves,and I wish I’d known about Bama much earlier in the process because it would have saved us a lot of time and application fees.</p>

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<p>Yeah, I must say, that my husband took our daughter down to Tuscaloosa this summer and was rather SHOCKED at how nice UA was. All he could say was WOW. They went with pretty low expectations and with the usual ‘stars and bars overkill’ preconceived idea about the south. They had to eat some serious crow after the tour. They also saw Auburn Univ. – which was also fantastic (the new dorms are great, but not many rooms available). We’ve been to Wash U’s student living area (looks like a little ‘collegeville’) – pretty swanky, but my D. concurred, 'Bama’s better. Timeflew is on the money with his assessment, and all we can say after looking at A LOT of schools, look out for the SEC – they are serious contenders.</p>

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<p>Yes, I have to admit that we drove down not knowing what to expect. DO NOT let any preconceived notions you may have about large SEC schools, the state, or the region keep you from checking out BAMA or you will be losing out.</p>

<p>The new school of science facilities were a big factor in our choice -</p>

<p>[Shelby</a> Hall - The University of Alabama](<a href=“Page Not Found | The University of Alabama”>Page Not Found | The University of Alabama)</p>

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<p>Bumping because I rec’d a PM asking if it’s too late to apply. It’s not too late to apply!!! :)</p>

<p>I spoke with Scholarships this morning to confirm. :)</p>

<p>The Dec 1st deadline ONLY applies to NMSF and NASF who don’t make finalist. </p>

<p>So, if you’re a likely NMF or N Achievement Finalist (which means that you have the GPA, SAT, etc to make finalist), then Bama will still award you their BIG NMF scholarship once you’re named in February.</p>

<p>You still have to name Bama as number one choice by May 1st. </p>

<p>This fall, Bama enrolled 182 freshmen NMFs and 30 NAs from all over the country. Bama has over 600 National scholars on campus. </p>

<p>And, this fall, over 51% of all freshmen were from out of state. The school is now about 45% OOS. </p>

<p>The NMF and NA scholarship includes:</p>

<p>Free tuition (for OOS student as well)
Free housing (including honors Super Suites)
$1,000 per year
$2,000 study abroad money
iPad (likely whatever the latest version is and a top model…they’ll be purchased in the summer before school starts)</p>

<p>Also, if you’re an Engineering major or Comp Sci major, Bama will give you an additional 2500 per year. Bama has a brand new mega-sized Science and Engineering Complex. </p>

<p>The campus is gorgeous, the academics are strong, and the people are friendly.</p>

<p>This video features the College of Arts and Sciences, but gives a good idea of the school. Phase I of the new Science and Engineering Complex can bee seen as well (Shelby Hall). There are 4 phases and 3 phases have been completed (700,000 sq ft of new classrooms, labs, etc). Phase IV completes in 16 months. </p>

<p>[The</a> University of Alabama College of Arts & Sciences “This is How College is Meant to Be” - YouTube](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube)</p>

<p>[The</a> University of Alabama](<a href=“Page Not Found | The University of Alabama”>http://www.ua.edu/)
the app is quick and easy…no essays, no teacher recs…takes like 5 minutes. Bama admits by GPA, test scores, and high school curriculum. Also complete the scholarship app which is also easy.</p>

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<p>Yes, the NMF and NA scholarship is still available. </p>

<p>If you want a personalized honors tour of Bama…</p>

<p>set up a campus tour time online…try for the early morning one on a WEEK DAY that is not a Bama holiday. The faculty and profs are not on campus on weekends or Bama holidays.</p>

<p>If time is precious, only set up the campus tour and not the info session. The info at the info session can easily be found on the very popular Bama forum here on CC ( [University</a> of Alabama - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/]University”>University of Alabama - College Confidential Forums) ). </p>

<p>By only scheduling the early campus tour, Allison will then have more time to schedule meetings with faculty and such earlier in the day.<br>
[Campus</a> Visits - Undergraduate Admissions - The University of Alabama](<a href=“http://gobama.ua.edu/visits/]Campus”>Visit)</p>

<p>send an email to Allison Verhine in the Honors College </p>

<p>In the email, include:</p>

<p>tour time and date
student name & contact info
test scores and GPA
(if a likely NMF or NA, indicate so)
intended major
professional interests (pre-med, pre-law, pre-dental, etc)</p>

<p>Also, include any thing else that interests you about the school…such as touring the new Science and Engineering Complex and Shelby Hall, the new College of Nursing bldg, or whatever. </p>

<p>Allison will arrange the rest of the day…meeting with dept heads, honors faculty, touring honors dorms, etc.</p>

<p>Allison Verhine - Honor College Recruitment Coordinator
269 Nott Hall
205-348-5534
<a href=“mailto:allison.verhine@ua.edu”>allison.verhine@ua.edu</a></p>

<p>Special Note!
Allison works very hard on these arrangements and often “hits the ground running” everyday meeting with prospective students/families, so it may take her a few days to respond. However, if you don’t get a response within a few days, resend AND call her. Sometimes mail goes to her SPAM folder and she doesn’t see it.</p>