<p>What are the real perks of being a finalist? What are the next steps to take after being named a finalist? </p>
<p>The only public university I applied to is UT Dallas. In my case, is this the only school where being a NMF helps, or is there something else I missed? If the former is the case, then can I just go ahead and indicate to National Merit UTD as my top choice? What else should I do?</p>
<p>Any insight is appreciated.</p>
<p>Also going to UT Dallas. I don’t think there are any more steps for us to take. Just list utd as your top choice and you should be good to go. Other than the assured scholarship, I think the only nmf perks are the $2500 scholarships from nm.</p>
<p>We are in the dfw area. Nearby, OU, Alabama, auburn and other smaller schools offer near full rides for NMF. No competition, if you are NMF and accepted you get scholarship. WAY better than 2500.</p>
<p>Auburn doesn’t offer a “near full ride” for OOS NMFs. They offer $20k per year towards tuition, and their tuition is currently about $25k per year. And that $20k doesn’t increase as tuition increases. They do include one year of housing.</p>
<p>And, you only get a stipend of $1k-2k per year. So, not even full tuition is paid for, so not even close to a “near full ride.”</p>
<p>Maybe they are offering S1 another complimentary package then. His out of pocket cost was going to be around 1K per year. That is one of the hard things with this. Many of our NMF type kids will also be good candidates for other money was well. Thanks for clearing that up!</p>
<p>What is the criteria National Merit uses to choose the finalists who get the $2500 scholarship? I don’t think I will get chosen, as my PSAT score is a 229. Wouldn’t they choose people who got 240s?</p>
<p>Also, can I just go ahead and tell National Merit that UTD is my top choice, regardless of where I go in the end? The other colleges I applied to are private universities.</p>
<p>@venturalize</p>
<p>If UTD is the only college that offers money for NMF, by all means, name it as your first choice. Alabama is my (pretty much) last choice college (all my other colleges are reaches, though), but it’s the only one that offers significant NM $, so it’s my first choice. Regarding how they choose the finalists, it’s more holistic than stats-based. Reading the past threads, it seems like a high SAT score (PSAT score ceases to matter) and GPA is pretty important (so all of the finalists with 3.5s probably shouldn’t expect anything), but not all of the winners are 2350+. </p>
<p>V:</p>
<p>If you go to the sticky on the threads page, you’ll find a link where people who got the 2500 post their stats. There isn’t an obvious formula, but high stats seem to be the common denominator.</p>
<p>Nhd:</p>
<p>Have you visited Alabama? if not, will you do so? what is your major/career goal?</p>
<p>"I want a place with seasons and brick buildings with columns. "</p>
<p>Bama’s got those. Gorgeous campus, and had snow last week and this week. </p>
<p>I see that you’re from Hawai’i. Do you go to the school that Obama went to? If so, I can put you in touch with a NMF from that school who will be graduating from Bama this May. Like you, he’s very liberal, yet found his time at Bama to be wonderful. </p>
<p>@mom2collegekids</p>
<p>I haven’t visited. (To put things into perspective, I’ve only visited 3 of the 16 or 17 colleges that I’ve applied to. 2 were paid for by the colleges for diversity fly-ins and the other one was for a national competition.) It’s really not financially feasible for me to visit, especially if it’s my last-resort school. But by no means am I regretting that Bama is a strong contender in this college process (it’s very likely that I’ll end up there unless I both get into tippy-top schools AND get enough need-based aid). There are a lot of things that I’ve read that make Bama seem like a great place. And if it’s not, I’ll come in with enough AP credits to graduate in 2.5 years. But that’s really a long-winded way of saying that I probably won’t visit. </p>
<p>The major I applied to was Political Science, but I definitely want to incorporate a lot of math and some women/gender studies. Of course, I’m 17 and haven’t been exposed to a lot of topics yet, so a change might happen. I’m thinking of professorship for the future (and that means grad school), but again, it might change.</p>
<p>I don’t come from one of the state’s good private schools. On the contrary, I go to a lower-achieving public HS. On average, we get one student into the highly-discussed schools on this forum, and have 55% not go to any college at all. It’s good to hear that a HI kid can thrive there, although I’m sure that there’s a definite change in culture. (Maybe it’s unfair to say that, though, because HI culture is quite different from anywhere else.)</p>
<p>It seems like there is some confusion on this thread about what UT Dallas offers a National Merit Finalist. Here is the description of the scholarship:<br>
<a href=“http://oue.utdallas.edu/aes/national-merit-scholarships/#Award1”>http://oue.utdallas.edu/aes/national-merit-scholarships/#Award1</a></p>
<p>Its not clear on the link if you are eligible for an additional $2500 from NMSC, or if it would be deducted from the UT Dallas scholarship, so that the net cash effect is zero. Some schools let you keep the $2500 separately, and some schools just keep the net scholarship the same.</p>
<p>If you are going to attend UT Dallas and you are a National Merit Finalist, make sure UT Dallas is listed with National Merit as your first choice college. </p>
<p>OP: Some private schools do offer some NMF scholarships. Are any of your other schools on this list</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nationalmerit.org/student_guide.pdf”>http://www.nationalmerit.org/student_guide.pdf</a> ?</p>
<p>The listed colleges are projected to have at least one college-sponsored scholarship available. You would have to verify with the school, check their first choice notification deadline, the amount of their scholarship, and whether it is competitive or not.</p>
<p>UTD says it follows dates published by NMSC and it is guaranteed so you really don’t have to specify them as first choice until May 1. Or if you specify UTD now, you can change to a different school after you find out about other acceptances (as long as you meet that other school’s deadline).</p>
<p>@momtocollegekids - Punahou is a top of the line prep school. It is every bit as good as any of those in the NE. I would expect that there are MANY NMF from that school fairly regularly. Just this year they had 20 NMSF. Those kids don’t go to places like Alabama or Oklahoma much. Most of them are either extremely wealthy or they are going to get lots of scholarship money for needs at the Ivies and other elite schools. Your friend is an unusual individual indeed. Unless a liberal goes to Liberty or Hillsdale, they will be surrounded by people like them. Even in conservative states, universities tend to be staffed by political liberals. Nothing wrong with that necessarily, but I guess I am surprised that you would even mention that a liberal would be happy in a college environment. That goes without saying. :)</p>
<p>@STEMFamily - Thanks for this link! </p>
<p>Oh… Three of my private colleges are sponsors. Wow I guess I better not choose UTD this soon haha. </p>
<p>RE: UTD-- The school pays full tuition/fees. And they send you a check for your room/board. The school will take your meal plan out of that if you have a campus meal plan. (You pay for your housing separately–out of the check the university sends you, even if you live in the dorms.) Also, you will get some “official” NM scholarship (less than 1K/year). Altogether, at UTD the student’s total cost will be around 1k (plus your own books and personal expenses/travel.) Same deal for 4 years if you keep a 3.0 GPA. If finances are a concern, UTD has a great package.
Have you checked what the total cost will be if you get a NM scholarship at your private schools? While a lot of private schools do offer scholarships, some of them are quite small. And even with the biggest ones, your cost of attendance can still be high, so focus on the total cost of attendance before you make a final decision.</p>
<p>@atomom: Thanks for the info!</p>
<p>Yes, the cost of attendance at almost all of my private schools are near $60k a year. However, my EFC is around 3k, so if I do get accepted, I most likely will also get a generous financial aid package. </p>
<p>I agree with atomom that you need to check total cost of attendance carefully and that the private schools’ National Merit awards are probably quite small compared to UTD’s total package. However, once you do decide where to attend, if it is a National Merit sponsoring college, why not have them as first choice on May 1st to get whatever they do offer (whether it is UTD or some other school)? Although they also may not stack on top of financial aid for some of those schools.</p>
<p>If it was me, I would make absolutely sure that the UTD scholarship package really is guaranteed for all NMF who declare them as first choice by May 1st. If you aren’t sure, I suggest going ahead and making them first choice and then you can always change your first choice once other admission decisions come out and you decide where to attend, as long as it is before May 1st.</p>