@tpike12 my S19 grudgingly went to visit UA and ended being blown away. I would recommend a visit set up through the honors college.
What does UA offer? (I’m assuming that’s U Arizona?)
Is anyone else considering Nebraska? It gives full tuition and a $2,000/yr. stipend. Maybe not as tempting as what other schools like UTD offer, but it has a great business program!
@kforty2 I bet it’s Alabama https://www.uah.edu/admissions/undergraduate/financial-aid/scholarships/freshmen
@kimclan1 Many schools will let you stack outside scholarships, so apply for those as well!
I was actually talking about Alabama although we did visit UAH as well and liked it a lot. UAH just doesn’t have the big school feel that S19 has decided is a better fit for him. For someone looking for a slightly smaller school (especially engineering) UAH is a great opportunity!
Thanks for the clarification on UA!
@kforty2 it’s true that UTD has a lot instate students but it’s really becoming much less of a commuter school than in the past, just in the last year or two UTD added lots of new on campus housing. Northside, which is not run by UTD, is actually on UTD land and as such the housing stipend for NM can be used there.
When thinking about instate vs. OOS numbers it’s also important to consider the size of the state of Texas. We are instate but about a four hour drive from UTD, one of DS’s roommates is also in state but he lives about 5 hours away and the other roommate is OOS from GA.
UTD is pretty proud of being a geeky, nerdy, no football school so it’s certainly not for everyone but you might want to visit. I can tell you that there is are lots of activities going on out side of classes. So far DS has joined two computer clubs, a D and D group, a jujitsu club and is looking into Model UN. The college experience is really what you make of it.
DD is at OU and she dreads home football games, too much traffic and too many crazy drunks. She also briefly considered U Miami but took it off her list because of all things, the humidity!
We had Nebraska on our long list in 2016. I seem to recall not loving the GPA requirements to maintain the scholarship. Something about the points for grades with plus and minus and we were more comfortable with other options (ASU, UAlabama, UKy)
I do not know the current GPA tea for UNL
@kimclan1 I know some kids who have no issue keeping their scholarship at UNL and others (with engineering majors, for example), who found it impossible. The requirement is 3.5 and that is pretty strict considering their GPA scale has +/- and no grade inflation like a previous poster indicated that another school had. I don’t know how difficult the business school is at UNL.
My D19 did a weeklong camp at UNL this summer, has toured it, talked to the advisor in an area of interest, and determined she did not want to apply. If you are going into computer science, they have what is supposed to be great contacts in the industry with the Jeff Raikes School of Computer Science. (One story was that the Big Name company who hired a bunch of kids (including freshman) for computer-science internships this summer took them all on a few day end-of-summer trip to Texas to celebrate their good work.)
D19 is very sick of the college football rah-rah environment where we are now and is looking for a smaller campus (4,000-8,000 range) so UNL did not attract her. To each their own!
@Reebtoor - has you D19 looked at UAH then? May be a nice fit based on your description and they have nice merit for NMF.
Platinum Award of Academic Distinction
Students who are selected as National Merit Finalists, National Achievement Finalists, or National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholars qualify for the Platinum Award of Academic Distinction. This 4-year award is valued at full tuition (up to 18 credit hours per semester), and also includes a course fee stipend (up to $1000), an on-campus housing allowance, and a meal plan allowance. Renewal is based on satisfactory academic progress and full-time student status.
@mountainmomof3 Yes! She hasn’t visited yet, but hopes to next semester. It is definitely on her list & sounds like it is right up her alley. The NMF award is awesome.
If our kid applied to all their schools before getting official word about NMSF and have their portals set up, should they/can they update their application with that information? Or will the schools get “the LIST” and know that information on their own?
@TXRunningMom - I would certainly update with the new information in the portal just to be sure.
@TXRunningMom I would also have your student send an email directly to the admissions office of each school letting them know. It is a nice way to demonstrate further interest.
@TXRunningMom Definitely email admissions and get everything updated. National Merit status can give you a quicker decision at some schools, and applications may be viewed by other departments/programs (honors, for example) as well as scholarship opportunities.
I’ve been lurking for a long time, expecting that DS19 would qualify as a NMSF. I’ve learned so much, so a shout out to everyone. Now that we know he’s NMSF for sure I’ll poke my head up and join in 
We have previously visited University of Colorado-Boulder and he likes it. It’s our state flagship but they just don’t do much in the way of merit–$5,000 per year is their top automatic merit award, leaving a good $28,000 cost per year since we qualify for no aid under the FAFSA formulas. We can afford that, but heck, that’s a lot of money!!
I told him we should visit a school that is automatic full-ride/near full-ride for NMF and Alabama was his first choice of those. We’re visiting in October, and on that same trip we’re driving up to Vanderbilt. I honestly don’t think that “elite vibe” will be his thing, but I want him to see the diference. DS has a couple of reach schools in far-flung locations that don’t give any weight to expressed interest, so we’ve told him we will visit if he gets in.
@Colorado19and22 - hi there from another CO mom! We are in the same boat - S19 already qualifies for UA Presidential Elite and now, with unofficial NMSF status, UA looks even better. We went to visit last winter and we were all impressed. So much so that S19 cut off much of his prospective list. He will now apply to 5 – 2 OOS publics (where he will see if he ends up with any of their highly competitive merit) and UA. He now plans to also apply/visit UF and UCF this fall as well. There will be no time for further visits this fall or next spring. No elites for our family - at full pay just can’t justify cost given other $ offers and two more kids to pay for as well. Good luck with your upcoming visit!
@Colorado19and22 Don’t rule out CU Boulder until all the awards come in. They may award your son other scholarships (departmental, private donors, etc.). Unfortunately, you may not have the full scholarship picture until next spring, and it’s hard to wait.
Hey, all,
We did visits last year at U of New Mexico, OU, Texas Tech and UT Dallas. Here are links to my visit reports. I also have a running thread in the U of New Mexico forum with follow up visits and other info, since that’s where my NMF student decided to go. 
—commence paste—
UNM: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20532531/#Comment_20532531
UT Dallas: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20541030/#Comment_20541030
Texas Tech: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20548698/#Comment_20548698
OU: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20564699/#Comment_20564699
In the intervening posts between all of those, I add stuff I forgot, respond to questions, etc., so you might want to start with UNM and read the whole series.