National Merit Finalist College Decision

College Search & Selection
1

Hi everyone!

I recently found out that I am a National Merit Semifinalist, and I am currently applying to be a Finalist. I did not expect to receive this award, so I have not toured any colleges that give full ride or full tuition scholarships for Finalists and/or Semifinalists.

Right now, I am planning on majoring in chemical engineering. I may change my mind later (I’m only a senior in high school, after all) but I know I will choose a path in the STEM field. I live in the midwest, so I have done campus tours and school of engineering tours at UW Madison, University of Minnesota, Purdue, University of Michigan, and Northwestern University. I could see myself loving any of these schools, and they are all ranked high in chemical engineering.

Most of the schools that give full rides or full tuition are not ranked in engineering, but I know that rankings do not necessarily indicate the value of the program. Therefore, I am wondering if anyone has heard anything about the engineering schools at University of Alabama, Arizona State, University of Arizona, Wichita State, University of Kentucky, Mississippi State, University of Mississippi, University of New Mexico, Oklahoma State, University of Oklahoma, Drexel, Washington State, West Virginia, or any other colleges that give significant packages for National Merit Finalists.

I know that it’s a long list, so feel free to answer any parts of this question you’d like. You can add anything else about those colleges or the National Merit competition in general. I’m having a hard time right now because I thought I knew exactly where I was going to apply! Of course, it’s a good problem to have.

As a side note, I still plan on applying to most of my original choices in the midwest to see what type of financial aid package I’ll receive.

Thanks so much for your help. :slight_smile:

2

They are almost all public Us and you would pay OOS rates for most of them. Can your family afford that?

ABET accreditation is what matters in engineering. http://main.abet.org/aps/accreditedprogramsearch.aspx

One of the better Chem E programs that isn’t even on your list is U Delaware which is supported by DuPont.

3

Check out the NMF scholarships at TX A&M. OOS receive instate tuition plus $40,000 over the four years.

4

^^^

The big downside of Texas A&M’s award is that you must maintain a 3.5 to keep it. As great a student a person may have been in HS, engineering majors are known to have “lesser GPAs” in college.

Congrats with being named a NMSF! Very exciting. Make sure that you meet the deadlines and have taken the SAT and had your scores sent to NMCorp. As long as you don’t have any GPA issues, and aren’t a discipline problem at your school, you will likely make NMF in Feb.

<<< University of Alabama, <<<<

My son graduated with a Chem Eng’g degree from Alabama in 2013. The facilities are amazing…The STEM complex is new, state of the art, and will blow you away. Senator Shelby is the one who spear-headed getting this complex and the goal was for Alabama to have what MIT has.

The new Science and Engineering Complex (SEC) is nearly 1 million square feet of new STEM academic space.

My son’s roommates were also ChemE and good friends of his, so I also got to see their experiences as well.

Alabama has those fabulous Super Suites where each student has a private bedroom within a 4 bedroom 2 bathroom “super suite” that also has a living room and kitchenette.

What would you like to know?

Two of my son’s ChemE roommates were immediately hired after graduation into very high paying jobs. Actually, they knew that they were hired at the beginning of their senior year…these were companies where they had done internships.

My son and his other roommate went on to medical school. At Bama, about 1/4 of the ChemE majors are premed. Bama has excellent premed advising if that is of interest to you.

The Alabama NMF award is 5 years of tuition, 1 year of housing, 3500 per year stipend, 2000 summer experience, and an iPad or laptop.

However, as an Eng’g major, you would ALSO get 2500 per year…so a total of 6000 per year in stipend!

That 5th year of tuition can be broken into 2 summer abroad trips if desired. The school give you the semester tuition, which is about $13k a semester for you to spend on that summer experience. That usually covers classes, airfare, living expenses, and extra travel …amazing. Many NMF ChemE majors choose to do a summer abroad in one of two European countries that offer an amazing ChemE experience.

You have to visit! If you do, set up your campus tour and then let the Honors College set up appts with ChemE profs and another tour of the Eng’g facilities.

Also…ask any questions here on the Bama forum here on CC…it’s a very popular forum.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/

If you have any other questions, please let me know.

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I would say UAlabama and OU are the two best known. The Honors College at UA is nationally ranked for its excellence and offerings, to boot. Check out Drexel and ASU Barrett.
For ChemE, UDel and UMN-TC are hard to beat, so apply there too, then compare your financial aid package at each, to decide what will be the best value for you.

6

Depending on family circumstances, it may be worth a try at MIT or Stanford. Both offer generous need-based financial aid. So if your family earns £60K/year you will get a full-ride, and if it earns £500K/year you will get nothing. Neither is in the midwest of course, but if you are looking for a top-ranked program, both are in all of the top 5 lists nationally for ChemE.