<p>The boards here look sort of dead, but I figured I would give it a try.</p>
<p>How liberal is Furman with handing out merit money?</p>
<p>Would a student with a 4.0/4.0 GPA, 33 ACT, and NMF status recieve any significant amount?</p>
<p>Furman has some very good merit scholarships - go for it!</p>
<p>We were just at Furman on Tuesday for a second tour and presentation. The financial aid section of the Furman website outlines a number of merit-based scholarships- I believe you will receive 2-3K just for your NMF status. Have you contacted the Furman admission rep. for your area? Getting to know that individual would probably be advantageous in connecting with appropiate people in Financial Aid. Your stats should position you for some good merit aid.</p>
<p>What do you consider "good" aid? </p>
<p>My daughter was a finalist for Furman's biggest scholarship, which she did not receive. She did get some decent scholarship aid, in line with other LAC's --- although she did not have to fly anywhere else for a competition to receive the same amount of money. Scholarships are good, but not great.</p>
<p>If you are interested in poli-sci, opportunities for scholarship money seems to be better. I guess that is Furman's emphasis these days.</p>
<p>By the way, my daughter is attending Furman this fall. I do wish she had gotten more in the way of scholarship money, but as I said, it was in line with similar schools. We were a bit disappointed about the amount she received because we heard of people who received the same amount or more & they weren't even Lay scholarship finalists. However, the scholarship she received did make Furman a somewhat affordable school & she really wanted to attend. </p>
<p>The bottom line is, scholarships for us made Furman "affordable."</p>
<p>I must note several important things. As a member of the selection committee for merit awards, I may appear to be a little biased. However, Furman's merit scholarship offerings are without a doubt the most comprehensive and most lucrative of any top tier liberal arts college in the United States. There is simply no comparison amond LACs, with Davidson probably the next in line. This may seem like a common line, but we really can't guess with scores. Furman is a community, and we are continuing to build one. No scores or grades will get you a merit award. With all other things being equal, it comes down to the personal factors and the connectivity factor that is really determined at the scholarship competitions themselves. As for the statement that there may be better options for 'poli-sci' people, that is simply not true. I am a political science major myself, but that really had no factor in determining my scholarship. Now, it is sometimes possible that those interested in politic are able to fully actualize on the citizen-of-the-world component to scholar selection. However, we want a fully diverse intellectual, social, and extracurricular community. My fellow scholars represent a wide range of interests from economics to neuroscience to business to physics. Also to answer the point about non-finalists for the Lay receiving large sums of money, one must understand that we have a very large and dynamic scholarship program for South Carolina residents. In addition, departments in the fine arts also have a separate scholarship program that is tangental to that run for the other merit awards. Please do consider Furman's scholarships, but first consider Furman. If you find our institution to be an appropriate fit and Furman reciprocates, then the university will find ways to make you a part of our intellectual community.</p>