UMiami has an amazing simulation hospital on campus. It is so impressive. Merit is very generous when applying early for some of their bigger scholarships. And even without their largest merit levels, the merit offers are substantial and for 4 years so you can budget things vs. straight need which can change year to year.
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Agree with Ohio State.
It looks like this list was developed solely with prestige and big-ticket scholarships in mind. What about fit? That will be very important to schools when awarding these scholarships.
I also want to underscore what has been said about the work that will be necessary to put together these application packages. If your daughter is not well into writing her essays you are facing a huge reality check.
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I added Univ. of Houston with an automatic full ride merit for NMF. Adding more reality schools now…
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Some schools offer great scholarships for NMF winners. USC and Fordham?
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Just curious why do you think she’s aiming way too high? Though we don’t know anything about her HS or course load why wouldn’t she be in contention for these schools?
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She’s a wonderful student in so many ways.
But they are seeking merit at the rest of the schools - and they are applying to schools like WUSTL, Vandy, UVA - where scholarships aren’t automatically given but require a lot of additional work vs. an auto merit school like an Arizona or Bama or a school where she’ll get great merit such as South Carolina or Miami Ohio.
So if the OP gets into Vandy but doesn’t get the Cornelius Vanderbilt, is she going, etc?
She can get shut out on the all the extras…that’s all people are saying. And each of those extras that have another application take a long time to apply to.
That’s all.
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Another way to look at it is to do the math. There is about 36k students in the top 1% each year. The open seats at HPY + big scholarships for domestic non-athletes is <5k.
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University of New Mexico has an automatic free ride for NMF.
UNM is very diverse with 59% of students coming from minority groups.
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Many of the schools on this list are reaches just for admission. When you are looking for merit, they become even more of a reach (Duke, UNC, Wash U etc). My D attended one of these schools and I am familiar with these scholarships and who has received them (at her school).
It is extremely difficult to get the BK award at UMD unless you are a resident of Maryland, which is why I asked if she was. She might get some merit, but will it be enough? My daughter had similar test scores, a higher GPA and rank, and received $14,000.
Getting the full ride at Pitt has become more difficult in recent years. Several years ago full tuition was “easier,” but the full ride was still difficult, requiring interviews etc. It is my understanding that full tuition is much harder now. I have said this before and I will say it again: people who interview for the full ride at Pitt are very, very impressive. We met 2 who had already published several research articles while still in high school.
I would keep Richmond and GW. I would also keep UVA only because she was nominated. Add a few more likely schools and an additional reach or 2- depending on her motivation. This list seems to be driven by prestige.
A word about Jefferson Scholars- this is another one with very, very impressive applicants. The year my daughter was interviewing there was a student who was a pilot. He spent his time cooking and flying his food to pantries all over the country. This is who this student is competing with (and he had top grades and scores).
Has she started all of these essays? My daughter started in July and had to write 19. This list has way more than 19 and we are not sure where she is in the process.
If she is looking for money she needs a strategy for getting it. A “strong student” with “interesting ECs” and community service can certainly get merit money at the right schools.
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You should look into UChicago. The campus is gorgeous, along with incredible professors, learning environment and opportunities. My daughter is incredibly happy there.
We also need merit and current D in this application cycle has been limited to 5 of these competitive merit apps (Vandy, BC, Fordham, South Carolina and Richmond) due to volume of work (note, WE have limited her, not the school)
plus she has 3 auto merit apps (Bama, Ole Miss, Miami OH) - note that special programs at these schools e.g. Randall Research Scholars at Bama, require additional apps even if the merit $ is automatic
its a LOT of work!
good luck!
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U Houston isn’t a full ride for NMF, it’s full tuition and fees: National Merit Scholarship - University of Houston
U Dallas is close to a full ride for NMF National Merit Scholarship Package - National Merit Scholars Program - The University of Texas at Dallas
Texas Tech offers NMFs a full ride: https://www.depts.ttu.edu/admissions/nationalmerit/
Some Florida publics are still offering NMFs full or close to full rides but double check their websites for details.
U Alabama offers NMFs full tuition, fees, and room (not board) plus a research stipend. https://scholarships.ua.edu/freshman/nationalscholars/
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Are you looking for a full ride merit scholarship or would a full tuition merit scholarship be enough to meet your budget?
ASU offers neuroscience at the School of Life Sciences Neuroscience | School of Life Sciences (asu.edu)
ASU has an active MSA. See Muslim Students Association of ASU | Facebook
And ASU offers full tuition to all NMS. See New American University Scholarship – National Scholars | ASU Scholarships and Scholarship estimator updates in progress | ASU Scholarships
It’s not on the East coast, but is easily accessible from the East Coast. PHX Sky Harbor is a large airport, and there is a convenient Light Rail line that reaches the campus from PHX for $2.
Check out the Barrett Honors College website Discover why the Barrett experience is right for you. | Barrett, The Honors College (asu.edu)
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My daughter is at UDel (8th in her HS class of 300+, 34 ACT, along with her friend who was 2nd), honors program, she only got 17,000, but her friend got full tuition I believe (was based on test scores, last year recalculated GPA). They accepted most of my daughter’s 9 AP classes and she is graduating a year early, she was accepted into their DPT program, top 3 in the US (some say #1). Beautiful campus, work hard/play hard atmosphere. Her younger sister is at Clemson living the dream, similar stats but less merit there, but she is in college heaven and is grateful every day to be there. She was 10th in her class and 33 ACT.
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That is another possibility way to cut costs; graduating in 3 years is certainly possible at many schools accepting AP credit.
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I believe this student has a chance to get one of these big scholarships….but not guaranteed.
Another factor…if you read the thread by @KevinFromOC you will see that a number of the scholarships (many on this poster’s list) require an interview or weekend as part of the finalist application process. His daughter had to decline a couple of interviews because they either conflicted with another interview…or because they conflicted with a school thing she was doing.
Here is another thread for you to read. This is NOW…and this student has very similar stats.
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There may be logistical issues for pre-med in this case, due to medical schools’ views on use of AP credit for pre-med requirements, timing of MCAT relative to completing the courses needed for background knowledge, and time for the expected pre-med extracurriculars when taking fewer semesters of undergraduate.
May be worth looking in the pre-med forum section.
Also, medical school is very expensive, and most applicants get no admissions.
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Florida State, FSU would be a great safety for you and meets a lot of your requirements
Gorgeous campus Niche rates #16 best campuses
As a NMSF you would be a great candidate for the OOS tuition waiver and Honors college
https://admissions.fsu.edu/first-year/scholarships/
https://honors.fsu.edu
FSU has a Middle East study center and a MSA and is a leader in diversity
https://mec.fsu.edu
https://nolecentral.dsa.fsu.edu/organization/muslimstudentassociation
https://diversity.fsu.edu
Top 20 Public and rated 55 overall this year USNWR
and checks a lot of your boxes for a safety school
Well the OP did have a few things on fit, east coast/midwest, traditional campus, active Muslim community, diverse, small setting in a larger university. Univ of Michigan honors program may actually be a really good fit, they have the Global Islamic Studies Center and the other things OP is looking for. Affordability would be the issue there.
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We are undergoing a similar search for my daughter with similar stats right now. However, we have decided to target mostly second tier schools to ensure that she ends up with merit money from a few places. Merit money is difficult at most schools, but at the most competitive schools, it truly is a needle in a haystack. Top stats are a given, but on top of that, the students competing for these awards have amazing extracurriculars!
As someone whose daughter has applied to 11 schools, the essays are exhausting, and she has not even started the honors college or scholarship applications. If you are competing for the scholarships like the ones you mentioned above, every essay has to be amazing! Also, the essay demands at the schools to which my daughter applied are significantly less than many of the schools you have mentioned. For reference, she applied to MIT, and that application was by far the most involved. For the schools you are targeting, I would expect most of the applications to be that involved.
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