<p>I know that UVA does not do a whole for National Merit Semifinalists, but is there any award at all for being a finalist who designates uva as his first choice? Is it a set amount or does it just factor into one's overall financial aid package?</p>
<p>For most universities it's just a set amount.</p>
<p>I don't know any specifics for UVA, though.</p>
<p>yea, i know thats how it usually is, i just couldnt find any specifics about uva.</p>
<p>No, the admissions office does next to nothing to attract high-end students. Try to get external sponsorship if you make NMS.</p>
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No, the admissions office does next to nothing to attract high-end students.
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I'm surprised, Cav. You're far too smart to be so simplistic.</p>
<p>Our aid money goes to students with need. </p>
<p>There is a lot of criticism of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. This</a> article offers a pretty good summary. I'm going to quote a few lines, but I hope you'll all read the article.</p>
<p>Interestingly, NMSC operates primarily they way students think the colleges do: with only a standardized test score determining who advances through two rounds of the selection process. Only in the very final round does any other information come into the process.</p>
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[QUOTE]
NMSC refused to provide a list of state cutoff scores, though they are published on the Internet. They range from 202 in Arkansas and West Virginia to 222 in Massachusetts and Maryland, Detweiler confirmed. (To critics who question the "merit" of the MNSP, the state-by-state differences belie the program's claim to be "national.")
...
Only for the 16,000 semifinalists do factors other than tests enter the picture. In February, NMSP staff eliminate about 1,000 of them-those whose high schools do not endorse them, whose grades are not high, or whose SAT scores do not confirm their PSAT scores.</p>
<p>While opponents stress that most students are weeded out by virtue of test scores alone, defenders note that other factors enter at the end of the process.
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</p>
<p>Do admissions officers (at UVA for instance) want to know if a prospective student has achieved the National Merit Finalist distinction (since the University offers no scholarship dollars to NMFs)? Would the award have any bearing on the admission decision?</p>
<p>I appreciated the story cited by Dean J because it confirmed awareness of the limitations of the NM program beyond cc! But I object to the implication of the title (Scholarship Sweepstakes
National Merit program offers millions in scholarship dollars without regard to financial need) because it implies some moral judgement (or just an editorial bias) against offering recognition based on fairly transparent criteria (published cutoffs and materials reinforcing that achievement). While there may be some inequity based on timing, geography, and the like, I don't think there is anything intrinsically wrong with recognizing the potential of the finalists. How individual schools do or don't take it into account is up to them.</p>
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I'm surprised, Cav. You're far too smart to be so simplistic.
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</p>
<p>?!?!?!</p>
<p>What efforts are being made? The Echols program has been destroyed (not that there was much to it anyway) and Peabody Hall offers <em>no</em> merit money. Can you name one of our peers that does this? (And no, when it comes to admissions, we're not peers with Stanford, MIT, Caltech and the Ivies.)</p>
<p>Obviously, I'd love to be able to throw money at the top students, regardless of need. A decision was made not to go in that direction and I'm sure you're fully aware that those sorts of decisions aren't made in Peabody Hall.</p>
<p>Ouch, those are biting words!</p>
<p>I realize that Peabody Hall doesn't set policy. I didn't mean to lash out at you (if it sounded that way). Although I find the administration of the University to be excellent in most ways, I'm perplexed and disappointed by certain recruitment and admissions policies.</p>
<p>Meanwhile our neighbors to the south recognize the benefit of attracting top talent to their state (and keeping talent in their state) by significantly expanding their merit scholarship program and by granting instate tuition to all full-scholarship winners to make their state universities’ merit funds go further.</p>
<p>
[quote]
$100 million to fund scholarships
The Cain Foundation money increases the possibilities for Morehead recipients
CHERYL JOHNSTON SADGROVE, Staff Writer </p>
<p>CHAPEL HILL - A Texas chemical magnate's fortune could soon be sending UNC-Chapel Hill's top scholars on summer trips to China or India. </p>
<p>A $100 million gift announced Thursday will increase the possibilities for students who benefit from the prestigious Morehead scholarship program. The scholarships have supported more than 2,600 students at UNC-Chapel Hill since 1951. </p>
<p>The new money could be used to expand the offerings to include in-depth programs in Asia or to offer scholars a gap year between high school and college to grow outside the classroom, among other possibilities, Chatham said. </p>
<p>The scholarship is valued at $80,000 for in-state students and $140,000 for out-of-state students. </p>
<p>Rising tuition since 2000 led the Morehead Foundation to cut the number of scholarships it awarded in recent years. The foundation also turned to fundraising to boost its investment fund. </p>
<p>75 awards a year </p>
<p>A controversial law the state legislature passed in 2005 reclassified full scholarship recipients as in-state students for tuition purposes. The state now covers the funding gap for out-of-state athletes and scholarship winners, saving millions of dollars for foundations and athletic departments across the UNC system. As a result, the number of coveted Morehead Scholarships has increased to about 50 a year. </p>
<p>This endowment gift will bring that number up to 75 in a few years, meeting the foundation's goal of providing scholarships for 2 percent of the freshman class.
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<p>UVA does face a dilemma in this area. Competition for top students is increasing, and many sub-ivy institutions (it really isn't fair to call UVA and others like it "second tier") are offering money to get them. At the same time, there is a big push among the elite schools (Ivys and very high end LACs) to do something about the growing concentration of wealthy students at high end schools. </p>
<p>Cav brings up the key issue: who are UVAs peers? While I would have to agree that UVA is not in the same group as IVYs/CalTech/MIT/Stanford, it is something of a question of where do you WANT to be. Stated another way, it isn't "who are UVA's peers today," but "who do they want to be their peers in 20 years." The fact is UVA must choose whether to follow the example of the elite schools and focus on the access problem for less wealthy students or try to pump up their stats with high scoring students.</p>
<p>My son and his roommate at UVA are both National Merit Scholars ($2500 winners) from the same OOS high school. By appearances, UVA has never seemed to express the slightest interest in their status, though I am sure it factored into the admissions process to some degree. While other schools wrote letters, offered small scholarships (some not so small), and generally made them feel wanted, it was an eery silence from UVA.</p>
<p>On the other hand, other students from my son's HS who are financially challenged were admitted to UVA and offered stunning financial support, up to and including free rides. I know more than one student who simply could not have attended without that support, and they would have gone to good, but clearly lesser schools.</p>
<p>So I can tell you from experience that UVA is being true to its word. They have made a decision about where they want to go and who they want to be. While it is easy to criticize the decision, and I certainly wish they would throw money at my son, there are limited fund available, and it is better to do one thing very well than to try to do both with mediocre results.</p>
<p>I would, however, encourage the school to at least spend more time contacting high scoring students, encouraging them to apply and to attend once admitted. Just feeling wanted is half of the decision.</p>
<p>HartinGa-You are so right about "feeling wanted is half the decision." I think you would find that the same issue applies to talented instate students as well. My son is a second year and could not be happier. He had 1480 SAT's, 10 Ap's in high school with lots of 5's, 2 varsity sports, Eagle Scout,etc. However , the school really did nothing to attract him or try to keep him instate. He looked at places like Duke, Princeton, Cal Tech mostly because they showed interest in him! He ended up applying ED and has not looked back(can't beat instate tuition) but I agree, it would be nice to make some of these kids feel more wanted. That is really sometimes all they are looking for.</p>