<p>Hi everyone! I was named NMSF here in the good old state of Minnesota with a 221. Hopefully, I'll make finalist status after my application is turned in! I have finished everything but I just have one thing left.. CHOOSING MY FIRST CHOICE SCHOOL! I am conflicted between University of Southern Cali and the University of Minnesota. </p>
<p>I'm a Minnesota resident, and the national merit package for the U of M is usually a full ride for all four years. Take into account that it is in-state tuition so technically it wouldn't be THAT much money...</p>
<p>USC on the other hand gives away a half ride to people who are awarded the NM scholarship there... this would be about 22k a year. </p>
<p>I have visited both and I LOVE USC. But Minnesota is also not a bad choice. I have to think about overall cost, but I also realize that a lot of it depends on if I would really rather go to one or the other. The answer right now is no... I will go to whichever one presents itself as the better opportunity. I could go either way! Please help me choose because I want to finish soon with this app. Is there any significant question I should ask myself to make this decision somewhat easier? Any advice from parents of children who had to make this decision? Any details you want to know about me to help me out?</p>
<p>You don’t have to make a decision now. You can choose “undecided” and list your first choice later. The NM deadline for choosing a “first choice” school is April 30. Just check with both schools and make sure their deadline isn’t earlier than that, as some schools do have an earlier decision deadline. Good luck with your decision.</p>
<p>sotaswag…Congrats on achieving NMSF status, and hopefully NMF status in February!! Just to make sure you’re not mixing terms, the scholarships offered to NMFs by both USC and UMinn are not “half ride” and “full ride” respectively, they are roughly “half tuition” and “near full tuition”. You need to look at overall Cost of Attendance (COA) for each school to accurately compare. USC’s COA is $59K+ leaving you with a gap of about $37K per year after their scholarship. UMinn’s COA for in-state students is around $24K, and their NMF scholarships ($10K Gold Scholar plus $1K-$2K Nat’l Merit) will leave you with a gap of about $13K per year.</p>
<p>I don’t know what other merit scholarships you might be awarded at USC, but if your grades and test scores are competitive you may be in a good position to get additional merit scholarships from UMinn. Our D1 is an OOS NMF (sophomore this year) and was awarded a Bentson and a Presidential scholarship in addition to her NMF awards, bringing her total to a near full-ride. As an in-state student, you would have quite a few additional awards which you’d be eligible to receive, so your $13K-ish per year gap would more than likely get smaller. Most NMFs at UMinn have high enough stats to qualify for additional merit aid.</p>
<p>You should apply to both schools and compare their scholarship packages to the actual COA to see which is more affordable for your family. In the meantime, since you’re instate I’d STRONGLY recommend you attend UMinn’s Backstage Pass event for NMFs coming up next month. That should give you a good idea of what the campus offers for NMFs as well as allowing them a chance to get to know you. Here is a link to UMinn’s info page for NMFs, and it contains info for the Backstage Pass event as well as contact info for the current NMF coordinator at the U. Good Luck in your college search, and GO GOPHERS!! (Not that I’m biased or anything 
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<p><a href=“http://admissions.tc.umn.edu/nationalmerit/[/url]”>http://admissions.tc.umn.edu/nationalmerit/</a></p>