My son made National Merit Semifinalist and will hopefully be named a Finalist, as he has a very strong academic record. He was hoping to attend U of Arizona on a $30K scholarship (virtually full tuition). There are many reasons why this would have been an ideal situation for him and for our family. Much to our disappointment, we learned that Finalists will only receive $18K next year–$12K less than last year. It is still a nice scholarship, but it might be a deal breaker. Such a disappointment.
Just thought fellow merit Semifinalists looking for the best scholarship opportunities would want to know that U of Arizona is no longer giving Finalists full tuition…
Yes that is a disappointment. I think that was my D #1 choice. I did go and review - the $30,000 has been reduced to $18,000 but it appears they added on a separate $5000 annual National Scholar award. So, if I am reading it right, the annual reoccurring total has been reduced to $23,000 from $30,000.
We are that family who will have a high EFC, but our reality is that we live like middle class and do not have $200K+ in our back pockets for a bachelors degree. Although DS will be applying to a variety of schools and we’ve assured him that we can make it work, he is bound and determined to get the best deal possible. He wants us to save more for retirement, God bless him.
Just hope he gets Finalist and that one of these generous-scholarship schools works for him. Or I hope he gets into USC. That’s still expensive even after half tuition, but it’s such a great school and we live in SoCal.
Arizona with full tuition would have been a slam dunk. We have many Wildcats in our family. With reduced scholarship it would be over $25K/year. Might as well go to a UC in that case.
Hope I don’t sound entitled! We are psyched that any schools offer such generous perks for a PSAT score. Just so bummed that Arizona had to pull back this year. Now we are back to the drawing board.
We are the same. My D is looking at CS, so this news increases the chances of UT Dallas at basically a full ride or UT Austin paying full in state but having the edge in the rankings. We are also considering USC.
@GTAustin please keep us updated on your impressions of UT Dallas. D16 is sold on OU for Meteorology but now we are starting to think about S18 who is actually a higher stat kid than D16 and very likely NMF. He wants to do something CS/Business but of course this could change. The only way we could swing UT Austin would be with him commuting and living at home and it still would be more than twice the cost of UT Dallas with NM, plus UT Dallas offers the scholarship for 8 semesters which can be used for graduate classes if you finish your undergrad early. UTD is generous with AP and DE credit so there’s a chance he could do a BS/MB in 8 semesters. Looking at the UTD Computer Engineering requirements he should have all but two of the core requirements (ESC 3390 and ECS 3361).
3scoutsmom - I’m a huge fan of UT Dallas. I visited the campus 3 years ago with my oldest who chose to go to Pitt but recently have visited again with my D2. The facilities are new, the dorms are great, safe area and I think the school has a huge academic potential. I know the high tech firms from Austin do recruit from there. The kids that I know that have gone there have had internships and research opportunities. I would highly recommend for both CS and business. It is lacking somewhat in the liberal arts area. It is not a school for everybody. It does not have the high profile athletic program or a student drag across the street. It is in a suburb and not a party school. It is very diverse and a place for serious students. Again, I would love for my D2 to go there but she has lived her entire life in Texas and is hoping to see a different part of the country. You should go visit!
We know very little about the Arizona schools, but I continue to try to glean info here on CC about any of the schools with generous NM scholarships. I am wondering @jiggymom …if U of Arizona no longer has a good NM scholarship, is there a reason that Arizona State would not be considered? They still have a full tuition NM scholarship, don’t they?
Also, those of you that seem knowledgeable about UT Dallas…do you have any insight regarding their engineering program?
S16 has little time and has not progressed very far in the application process - he produced a rough draft of his very first essay the other day, and has not had time to do any more work on it (mind you, it is the one that he needs to complete for NM soooon and hopefully it will serve double duty as the general common app essay). It is very sloooooow going here! So…I have tasked myself with gleaning any info I can about possible additional schools to add to his list. Although much information can be found online regarding each school, I find the personal evaluations, friends or family experiences, or anecdotal info that folks here on CC share can be even more valuable.
@4kids2graduate the golden words for any engineering program are “Abet Certified”.Different schools have different draws for different fields of engineering. Mechanical engineering is very different than Chemical Engineering but if it’s not Abet certified stay away!
@3scoutsmom Thank you…we are definitely going to verify ABET certification in any program my son is applying to. He is interested in Electrical Engineering specifically. I was just hoping to get some additional insight from folks that seem to know more than we do about a particular school.
It is really an “art”…this college search process, and there are times I feel we are still in the finger painting stage!
We visited both ASU and UA this summer. My D preferred UA because it is a smaller school, she liked Tucson better than Phoenix, UA had a fantastic rec center (which she is in to) and just had a better vib for herself. ASU is huge but the Barrett Honor college there was wonderful and definitely worth checking out. It has the small college feel within this huge college and it gives you so many perks - definitely it should be a consideration. I do believe ASU and UA’s CS and engineering programs are comparable and ASU probably has better internship opportunities.
For engineering - UT Dallas also has a great program especially in the electrical/computer area. Their mechanical is newer but I think it is their largest engineering program. ABEE has all the statistics. I can’t say enough good things about UT Dallas - I think they are overlooked because they are a newer school without the large sports program. The last Dean of the school did remarkable things and now he is in the upper administration of the UT system.
Another school for engineering in Texas with large NMF scholarships is Texas A&M, but if you have any interest in going apply TODAY! They are rolling admission and will have 85% of the class decided very soon. It is an excellent school but not a city vib. More cowboy boots and the Corp but most students love it from all walks of life.
@GTAustin Thanks for your thoughts on the Arizona and Texas schools. That is why I enjoy reading information/experiences/opinions on CC, quite often you get additional information that is not able to be gathered in other ways.
I am amazed that a rolling admissions school (TAMU) fills up so quickly…that would not have occurred to me! I am still learning on a daily basis about ALL the things that need to be considered in this process!
@GTAustin You seem to be knowledgeable about the Texas schools. Could you weigh in regarding Texas Tech, University of Houston, and Univ. of North Texas?
@4kids2graduate and others, regarding ASU and other options:
Yes, we will now look into Barrett at ASU. When you come from a long line of Wildcats, you tend to dismiss that option offhand. Our son was not sure about honors colleges, in general, but is now warming up to the idea of the school-within-a-school model.
@jiggymom … Look at it this way, if your S goes to ASU it’ll certainly make for fun conversations over the Thanksgiving dinner table depending upon which school is holding the Territorial Cup. :-bd
@4kids2graduate, I am a Texas Tech graduate from many years prior. They do have a fantastic scholarship - a total full ride. They have some programs that are well respected especially engineering. I would suggest their honors college there because they have a wide level in student capabilities. It is one of the easier state schools in Texas to get into and many kids go there to party. They are gone after the first couple of years. I know many people who have been very successful from there. Lubbock, itself, is a college town of about 200,000. It is somewhat isolated in west Texas but has an airport (unlike College Station) and they have all the restaurants and mountains are not too far away in NM. It is very similar to OU but Lubbock has a better music scene.
UNT is known for its music program and I think their engineering, business and other programs are respectable. It is located in a small town Denton which is very close to Dallas/Ft. Worth. They have a really fun town square with eclectic shops and restaurants. It has more of a hippish vib than most schools/towns in Texas. I know numerous kids that go there and are having fun, many have a music connection. I do think there is a lot of music venues there.
UH - I have visited their campus several times because of swim meets. Nice campus with nice facilities. I do think there are a lot of commuters at UH. Not many kids from the Austin area consider UH, I think because of Houston. It is very large, but would offer a lot of opportunity. It is an oil and gas town, not so much high tech. Again, I think their academics are good but I think most of the graduates probably stay in Houston.