<p>I am a junior in high school who is a national merit finalist with a 225 on the psat and a 2340 on the sat. I am very interested in The Ohio State university as an out of state student. I have read in numerous places that the university offers full tuition to national merit scholars, yet i have also read that they do not. Can someone please clear this up for me? what does the ohio state university offer national merit scholars?</p>
<p>You are a junior and know you are a NMF? They are not announced til Feb of your senior year.</p>
<p>i got a 225 in the state of alabama so im pretty sure i will be national merit…@wilderzengirl</p>
<p>Congrats; have you checked out Ohio State’s web site? Should list all scholarships.</p>
<p>thank you! I looked at the website and took a look at the scholarships but i wasnt sure if they offer a deal like usc (who offer half tuition but doesnt list that up front on the site). @wilderzengirl</p>
<p>Look here:
<a href=“Merit-based scholarships - The Ohio State University”>http://undergrad.osu.edu/money-matters/scholarships.html</a>
Click on ‘National Merit Scholarship Program’ to expand.
They do not participate in awarding any NMF scholarships, official or unofficial.</p>
<p>ok thanks</p>
<p>But if your grades are good you may get some decent scholarship money since SAT is high. You see you could probably patch together the Maximus plus National Buckeye to cover $18,000 of the $26,000 tuition. No guarantees on that though.</p>
<p>I am in Ohio. Son is a 2014 finalist. Total merit dollars from OSU was the $3,000 Provost Award, leaving an in-state residual of ~$19,000/yr. @celesteroberts pretty much nailed it. There are only 25 full rides that are strictly competitive merit based. Others that say “merit” have additional hooks required for eligibility. He chose U of Cinci from among others (Bama included) that are still in the business of making large awards to NMF’s.</p>
<p>OSU has become so sought after among in-state and even OOS, they are past offering the dollars just to attract great students. Interesting that when we toured last year, student guide was from Anniston, Alabama and said he came to OSU 'cause of a great optometry program and they gave him money to make it better than going to Auburn. Don’t know how much.</p>
<p>What about OSU is the main attraction for you? Just curious.</p>
<p>Auburn does not give a lot of merit money (unfortunately) compared to their rivals. But it’s a sweet sweet school.</p>
<p>i lived in ohio for 13 years and a majority of my family has attended ohio state. growing up an osu fan i always wanted to go there, but after moving oos for high school the whole situation has been vastly altered. @OhDad3 </p>
<p>With an SAT of 2340, you can attend a far better university than OSU. Consider some private schools like Duke, University of Rochester, Washington University of St. Louis, or University of Southern California (only added that one in case you love football).</p>
<p>Seriously, you are too talented to attend OSU unless you cannot afford other schools. Since you are now out of state, obviously OSU is not going to be a bargain.</p>
<p>Also, if you want to come back to Ohio and still be an OSU football fan, then consider Miami University in Oxford or Ohio Wesleyan University which is only about half an hour north of the OSU campus. Both are full of Buckeye fans, and Ohio Wesleyan probably will give you a great scholarship considering your SAT score. Miami will give you at least half tuition off. See their merit aid chart here:
<a href=“Costs, Scholarships, and Financial Aid | Miami University”>Costs, Scholarships, and Financial Aid | Miami University;
<p>Ohio Wesleyan is actually an outstanding small college. One of the “Five Colleges of Ohio” which also includes Kenyon, Oberlin, Denison, and College of Wooster. Those five colleges plus Case Western Reserve are generally considered the best six private colleges in Ohio.</p>
<p>Wow NROTC that is an interesting comment. I am not sure you have paid attention to OSU’s admissions lately. It is harder to get into OSU now than any of those other Ohio schools ( maybe with the exction of Case) and the experience is very different. I am from Ohio and neither one of my kids chose OSU because they got better merit money OOS but it is a great school. The average ACT is now a 28. </p>
<p>Ohio State is a very good university, no doubt, but it is not great (nor near great) and is not better for undergraduate studies than is Miami, or Kenyon, or Oberlin, or Case Western Reserve. I would argue that all of those are usually better for undergraduates. Also, Ohio Wesleyan is known as a school that is “easy to get into but hard to stay” because they consistently challenge their students.</p>
<p>Acceptance Rates:
OSU 64%
Oberlin 31%
Kenyon 36%
Ohio Wesleyan 74%
Denison 50%
Wooster 58%
Miami 73%
Case Western 54%</p>
<p>Not that I consider acceptance rates to be of notable value. Those rates tell us what comes in to a college, not what comes out. I would rather come out of either Miami or Ohio Wesleyan, even though they are easier to get into.</p>
<p>OSU’s true value is for post-graduate and professional education (medical school, law, vet school, MBA, etc…). That is where it shines. For an extremely talented young person who wants to be challenged, and to grow, OSU is not a reasonable undergraduate choice unless the price is right.</p>
<p>For what it is worth, I live in the suburbs of Columbus and am very aware of OSU’s strength’s and weaknesses. I know more than a few alums, plus a handful of current students. I also know one mother (and Buckeye football fan) who would have saved several thousand dollars each year if her first son had chosen OSU last month. He chose an OOS private university. Afterward she confessed relief, stating that her son was too good for OSU. He had a 31 ACT and a 1950 SAT. The OP of this thread has a 2340 SAT. Average SAT at OSU is 1850.</p>
<p>
I guess this is where I’ll disagree. OSU has plenty of classes (and good students) to challenge high performing HS graduates. At OSU that student would still have 25% of the student body with higher scores, >1500 in his class alone.</p>
<p>@Erin’s Dad
She (the mother, not me) said that her son was too good for OSU. He is her son, not yours. Plus, that son is not the subject of this thread.</p>
<p>@neej27
I just remembered that Woody Hayes graduated from Denison University and it was also his first head coaching job (they have a statue of him at the football field). So, that would count as a major connection to Ohio State University. Denison is an outstanding college and is about as close to OSU as is Ohio Wesleyan (roughly a half hour drive). </p>
<p>Also, Denison has a larger endowment than any of the other “Five Colleges of Ohio” and is very generous with their scholarships. With your SAT, you might get a full ride at Denison. Lovely campus too. </p>
<p>Understood @NROTCgrad but I was also commenting on your statement that
For many subjects I would say OSU is better than those very good schools. You do provide some good alternatives, and Denison is a good recommendation for their merit aid.</p>
<p>Fair enough, Erin’s Dad. The central issue, to me, is whether OSU is worth paying OOS tuition given that non-loan and merit aid is rather meager. All the private schools offer significant aid, and even Miami is far more generous than OSU. (By the way, Woody Hayes also served as head coach at Miami before moving on to OSU.)</p>
<p>Simply because it is so large, OSU can offer a lot more options than smaller schools; especially liberal arts colleges. This is its main advantage over those other colleges. One obvious example is engineering. Of the schools mentioned, only Case Western can claim to be the equal of OSU for engineering and even there it would depend on which field is being considered. The smaller schools don’t even offer engineering.</p>
<p>If a student lives in Ohio and wants to major in engineering, then OSU is almost certainly their best bet and definitely best bang for their buck. The problem is for out of state students. Since only about 15% of OSU students are OOS, then it appears they have voted. I would go to the following tech oriented schools before paying out of state tuition at OSU for engineering: Georgia Tech, Purdue, Rose-Hulman, and Carnegie-Mellon (if I had an SAT of 2340). Of course, I have no idea if OP wants to major in engineering or not. This is just an example.</p>
<p>Personally, if I was a serious OSU fan, but lived out of state, I would deeply explore Denison, Ohio Wesleyan, Case Western, and Miami (even if I had high SAT/ACT scores). In all likelihood those schools would be far cheaper than OSU. One of them probably will offer the major the student is interested in. All would have plenty of Buckeye fans.</p>