People have mentioned reaching out to Luck at UCF. Is there a similar contact at Univ of Florida if we plan to tour this spring? TIA.
nanosec At UF you are basically on your own. There is an Honors Tour you can sign up for. You can tour Hume Hall for Honors kids. They are basically low key as compared to the UCF treatment. My son toured both. UCF has a fantastic operation for NMF kids. UF does not. Majors aside, I told my kid, âif you feel like you need assistance, a Professor/Advisor to mentor you then go to UCF, if you feel you donât, then go to UFâ. It was that simple for us.
@FSUdad93 Thanks - this is really helpful. We will only look at UF which lines up with the type of other public school our child is considering. Appreciate the insight. Happy holidays.
I am confused. My daughter is a NMF, she got the Benacquisto Scholarship offer from FSU (need to list as 1st choice at NSC). Tonight, she found out she is accepted to UF but no mention of scholarship. Does this mean she will not get any scholarship from UF? AS for now she has UF as her first choice, should she change it to FSU by 3/1 so she wonât loose the Benacquito offer from FSU?
@flmanv The Benacquisto Scholarship is offered by the state of Florida to Finalists of the NMSC based on their first choice selection with the NMSCorp. So UF will also give her the full Benacquisto Scholarship, The NMSC gives you until May 31 to decide what college is your first choice. So she should either change her selection on the NMSC website temporarily to âundecidedâ if she wants more time to decide between UF and FSU, or keep it as UF as her first choice and accept her admission to UF if that is where she wants to go. I suggest you or your daughter contact Jessica E. Roth at UF (she is in admissions and is the head of the Benacquisto Scholarship at UF) and she can inform you about the scholarship and confirm that your daughter will receive it. And then you can better decide what to do. You do not have to accept any offers of admission to the colleges right now. And again if u change your first choice to undecided on her account on the NMSC and then once you have decided and spoken to UF you go back in and change it to the college she wants to attend. Hope this helps.
@GarpRules Than you so much for the information. I will contact Jessica E. Roth Monday.
@vistajay, you mentioned that the Benaquisto does not cover study abroad semesters. Does is not cover any part of your costs, or just not any additional costs that might be incurred?
Iâve stressed to my D that a perk of staying in-state as a NMF is that we can afford flights, incidentals, etc. but if she wonât receive any financial support for international study abroad, it will be a much harder sell.
@TrendaLeigh I specifically contacted FSU shortly after my Dâs acceptance to ask about whether the Benacquisto funds can be used toward their study abroad programs during the fall and/or spring semesters and they said yes. I think there is confusion because the scholarship does not cover summer costs, and therefore would not cover summer study abroad. I would think this would be true for all the FL colleges that qualify for Benacquisto, but it would probably be a good idea to contact any specific school your kid is interested in attending.
@TrendaLeigh ; @amsunshine is correct. I was talking about summer study only. Since the Benacquisto is a set amount, I suspect extra costs like expensive housing would be borne by the student. Conversely, if the study abroad were in a location with lower housing and meal costs that at FSU, youâd have extra money to spend.
@vistajay and @amsunshine, I should have read more carefully. Thanks for clarifying!
Does anyone know when Benacquisto will show up in the âawardsâ section for Miami. My D made it her number 1 and she has now committed.
@Trolleydolly - from what Iâve read, Benacquisto is awarded when your D receives a NMSC scholarship of any amount and if U of Miami awards her a scholarship for being NMF then the Benacquisto should kicks in. NMSC typically notifies the school on the form after 5/31 (last day to change your school choice) so based on this timeline, itâll be June at the earliest. Maybe you should contact U of Miami and have them award your D a scholarship for being an NMF so the rest of the Benacquisto kicks in. Again, everything I mentioned is based on what I read (no personal experience). Good luck in securing a Benacquisto Scholarship!
@Trolleydolly - since U of Miamiâs COA is much more than the Benacquisto Scholarship, be sure to negotiate as big a scholarship as possible to minimize (eliminate if possible) your out-of-pocket cost. The amount suggested in this forum of $500 per year maybe good enough for a state school but not at a private. ?
FSUdad93
Situation:
My daughter will complete 141 college credits by her high school graduation, including many advanced math, science, and literature courses. So almost all of them are transferable. You state the the Florida Benacquisto Scholarship for National Merit Scholarships provides funds until 120 hours are met or until a degree is completed.
Question:
How do the college credits completed in jr & sr high school affect her funding as a Benacquisto recipient? Will she get any funding as she already has 141 college credits? Or will she still get the full 120 hours once she starts at a Florida University? Or is there some formula we need to know to determine how many credits will be paid for by the Benacquisto scholarship?
Thanks in advance for your advice and thoughts!
@realid - I donât think @FSUdad93 or other folks who were on this thread in 2019 are checking this thread any more so let me try to fill you in. If you check the following link (from 2019-2020 and has not been updated for 2020-2021):
https://www.floridastudentfinancialaidsg.org/PDF/factsheets/FIS.pdf
It states the following and as @FSUdad93, just donât complete your Bachelors but continue and get you a Bachelorâs and Masterâs at the same time:
⢠This program will provide funds for 100 percent of the number of credit hours required to complete a baccalaureate degree program, or until completion of a baccalaureate degree program, whichever comes first.
It also states and the " âExtended Hours Applicationâ is a hyperlink at the above;
⢠Extended hours of funding are available to students enrolled in a single program of study requiring more than 120 hours by submitting the following application, âExtended Hours Application.â
Link here: https://www.floridastudentfinancialaidsg.org/pdf/BF_EXTHRS_Application.pdf
On the FAQ link: https://www.floridastudentfinancialaidsg.org/PDF/factsheets/FIS_FAQ.pdf
The following is directly applicable to your question:
27. If I maintain eligibility, how long can I receive the scholarship?
This scholarship will provide funds for 100 percent of the number of credit hours required to complete a baccalaureate degree program, or until completion of a baccalaureate degree program, whichever comes first. A student is eligible to receive an award for a maximum of 10 semesters or 15 quarters.
P.S. Our DD20 has a Bright Futures + Benacquisto Scholarship at UF and Presidential Scholarship equivalent to the same amount of scholarship at USF.
We are coming in with some additional credits, but holy cow, 141!! My D20 had 56 earned but only 36 actually have an equivalent in the program she has chosen. The credits may âtransferâ but they may not replace certain credits you need for your major. D20 took AP Physics but the CS degree requires Physics with CALCULUS, so sheâll have to take that.
Anyway, there are several BS to MS programs. It is my understanding that you can use the Benacquisto to cover the grad level courses that are accessible as an undergrad BUT you will need to pay the difference between the undergrad and grad level tuition and there are some courses you simply cannot take until you earn the BS at which point the scholarship no longer applies. As @Waitlistedparent indicates some schools will offer extra $ on top that can cover damn near whatever you want to do.
- She could triple major.
- She could take the minimum credits needed per semester to stay on scholarship and with her excess free time:
A. Work to earn money.
B. Do EC stuff (could be quite helpful when it comes to job-hunting, especially if organizational and soft skills were needed; or coding projects if sheâs in CS).
C. Start a business.
Any combination of the above.
@vistajay Doesnât Benacquisto cover full COA? How does any outside scholarships stack if itâs only âup to full COAâ?
Does anyone know if local/community scholarships can stack with Benacquisto?
@oh32go , Benacquisto provides a stipend to cover the full COA, as defined by the State. In practice, that means it will normally cover tuition, room, a meal plan and have enough left over for incidentals such as books, supplies, some travel. It is not uncommon for students to have money left over at semester end, just as others could blow through it quickly.
Outside scholarships depend on the school. I know FSU typically lets you keep them, and I have heard on this forum that UF typically does not. But as always, check with the college financial aid dept and locate the Benacquisto coordinator and ask.
Any updates from any âinsidersâ regarding the viability of Benacquisto given COVID-19 budgeting? Will the state legislature end the program? If so, will any of the schools create a new program on their own? (For example, FSU and UCF guarantee to already-admitted, already-attending NMFs that theyâll make good on the scholarship even if the state pulls the plug, but will they offer an equivalent opportunity to future applicants if there is no Benacquisto to begin with?).
DS21 was âdoneâ with the college application process when he got his PSAT scores last fall and his confirming SAT score shortly thereafter. He was chanting âGator Nationâ incessantly. Now, itâs all up in the air and heâs stressing about which colleges he will be applying to that make more sense for our financial situation if the full ride at UF is off the table, which I have been counseling him is highly likely to become the new reality.
I would LOVE to be wrong about this.