<p>My daughter has a 4.4 weighted GPA, 2260 SAT score, hispanic,will graduate with a total of
12 AP courses. She does not play sports. Involved mostly in Leadership Club and Honor Societies, President of the Hispanic Honor Society. Community Service @100-125 hours through high school. Doesn't qualify for need base funding. She likes smaller universities (15,000 students or less). Need suggestions for competitive schools that give merit scholarships.</p>
<p>From your join date and number of posts - I’m guessing you may be new to CC?</p>
<p>If you look through old threads - you will find a lot of information you are looking for. Start right here in this thread. For example - this is one of them:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/649276-nmf-scholarships-updated-compilation.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/649276-nmf-scholarships-updated-compilation.html</a></p>
<p>You can also go to the front of the discussion board - and look up each school and search or scan through old threads. To get “all” the threads - go to the bottom of the page and look at threads from “the beginning” you can then search for Scholarships. </p>
<p>From your post - I’m not clear if your daughter “D” on CC … is a national merit finalist or national Hispanic scholar. I don’t know much about the later, as I have not read much about it. But the thread I posted above lists the merit scholarships available for NMF’s. You do have to list the school as your “first choice” to get it - but as I understand it you - have until fairly late in the spring to decide and post/ notify/change that school.</p>
<p>For example - as a NMF -if you list University of Oklahoma - your daughter could get a full ride plus (lap top, summer stipend). Also make sure to check what it takes to keep these scholarships. OU is 3.0. Some can be has high as 3.5.</p>
<p>You might also list her unweighted GPA -as that helps apples to apples comparisons - as a lot of schools do not weight.</p>
<p>Also - you need to note if the school “super scores” - combining more than one sitting at the SAT or ACT - with scores from each area to combine for a super score. If that is the case - then the required ACT or SAT for merit scholarship can be higher. As kids can piece together two or three tests to get near perfect scores. If your D’s score is from one sitting - that can put her at a disadvantage at those schools. She can email the admissions to ask if school’s she is considering super score. Or google it.</p>
<p>Hope that helps. Just start reading and browsing - you will be surprised at how much great information is already here.</p>
<p>One of the best threads about significant merit was from maybe “momoftwoboys” or something like that - A Texas Mother as I recall - who talked about her strategy to get merit scholarships for her two sons. If someone knows of that thread - maybe they would post a link for you. I can’t seem to find it.</p>
<p>MaterMia: Just FYI, University of Oklahoma does not offer a full ride. If you run the math, their scholarship covers about half of all expenses. Their description of the tuition coverage is kind of tricky.</p>
<p>Rrodrig: Your daughter will have tons of options with NMF and a super high SAT. As mentioned, dig around on the boards, especially the Financial Aid / National Merit Finalist section. </p>
<p>Here is a link to full rides that are not related to NMF:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html?highlight=full+ride[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html?highlight=full+ride</a></p>
<p>My daughter will be NMF, and I’m hoping she’ll take an NMF deal.</p>
<p>Don’t forget that there are great NMF scholarships, and also great scholarships for high SAT scores. She won’t have any problem getting a full ride or near full ride at a good school.</p>
<p>Final thought: I’m assuming your daughter is a senior. Some schools have deadlines of December 1 for students who are requesting a scholarship. Hurry!</p>
<p>Thanks - you are right, it is not a full ride. It waives out of state tuition - plus some - so it puts it on par with an in-state school or less for most. I guess what I like in particular about OU is the 3.0 to retain. I believe OSU offers a similiar scholarship - but it’s a 3.4 to maintain for example.</p>
<p>Are you saying that your D is a National Merit Semi-Finalist? </p>
<p>How much merit does she need? How much will you pay each year?</p>
<p>OU is 3.25 and 2.8 for out of state tuition subsidy.</p>
<p>[Non-Oklahoma</a> Residents](<a href=“http://www.ou.edu/go2/nationalmerit/non-oklahoma_residents.html]Non-Oklahoma”>http://www.ou.edu/go2/nationalmerit/non-oklahoma_residents.html)</p>
<p>OP what does she want to study?</p>
<p>OU’s scholarship is $98,000 and the tuition waivers are good for 5 years, including graduate school. That does leave about $8,000 per year in expenses.</p>
<p>From my son’s letter:
OU guarantees a scholarship package valued at $98,000 to all National Merit Finalists who name OU as their college choice by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation deadline as of April 30, 2013. Although you won’t know about your status until February, 90% of Semifinalists advance to Finalist standing. </p>
<p>There are a number of reasons why over 700 National Merit Scholars are currently attending the University of Oklahoma. Here are a few highlights:</p>
<p>$1500 technology allowance and $1500 travel-study abroad stipend
Honors College Research opportunities and small class sizes
Undergraduate research opportunities<br>
Early enrollment privileges Enroll before graduate students and seniors
Numerous study abroad destinations Use your OU scholarship to see the world
Office devoted solely to your success Questions? Concerns? Contact our office! We’re here to help with the recruitment and retention of National Merit Scholars.</p>
<p>UAB gives full ride to nmf, national acheivement and national hispanic merit scholars. tuition, 4 years of housing and a stipend</p>
<p>11k undergrads, urban campus, very strong school for sciences and anything health related, but offers about 50 majors i think. nice dorms, apartment or suite style. 150 different organizations on campus. not a football or party school. </p>
<p>[UAB</a> - The University of Alabama at Birmingham](<a href=“http://www.uab.edu%5DUAB”>http://www.uab.edu)</p>
<p>OU is a great choice. While it is a public-state school, it only has 19,000 undergrads. The honors college, the national merit office, and other things help increase the personal attention your daughter receives. </p>
<p>The package is listed on their website (nationalmerit.ou.edu); it’s $98,000 for a non-resident. They list on their site that a nonresident student could expect to pay about 8500, which in my experience is about the cost of housing and food. </p>
<p>Their scholarship can also be used toward graduate programs, which would be excellent for your daughter since she’s coming in with AP hours. </p>
<p>From personal experience, it’s the perfect size - lots of opportunities paired with the personal attention.</p>