<p>We just got a couple of scholarship offers for DS from schools he hasn't applied to.
UTexas/Austin and U/Oklahoma both made what seem to be full ride offers with other perks thrown in like a travel abroad allowance and a free laptop (I think -- I don't have the offers in front of me).</p>
<p>What's the deal with this? Given the economic news that many state schools are going to be raising their tuition next year by double digit amounts, why are they willing to throw a lot of money at NM Finalists from other states? They know nothing about my kid except that he has very high SAT scores (2360). Is it solely to raise their rankings in the US News list? </p>
<p>Personally, I think they would better serve the people of their states by using the money to help their own residents. (Not that it wasn't flattering to receive the offers....)</p>
<p>Schools use scholarship offers to lure NMF for both bragging rights and to improve the quality of students of incoming freshmen classes. (Not that non-NMF are not quality students, but NMF have to have a solid GPA and above average SAT scores to become a NMF and these are two factors schools look at to determine student potential.) I also think schools like to increase the diversity of the student body by having kids from all over the US and outside of the US attend.</p>
<p>Personally, for us, I am very thankful that NMF status attracts so many scholarship offers. My daughter is planning on taking advantage of one out-of-state, an opportunity that she might not have had without the NMF status. Personally, if I was in charge of a university I would be more interested in getting the best and brightest no matter what the economic class.</p>
<p>Schools’ rankings are affected by the quality of their incoming freshmen classes, so there’s an incentive to get many high stats kids at their schools.</p>
<p>We received the offer from U of Oklahoma too but not the one from UT Austin. Would you please post the details of the offer for NMF from UT? I was under the impression that UT no longer offers a scholarship.</p>
<p>Oops, sorry, it is UT Dallas, not Austin.
It covers: full tuition and fees for four years, $2500 cash per semester, $2000 per year towards housing, $2000 one time stipend for study abroad.</p>
<p>It’s JUST a revamping of what’s been sent out repeatedly. They KNOW it’s time for finalists to be announced, so they’re just coming at you one more time. It’s still nice though, while our kiddos are trying to patiently wait on April 1 - to know that at least SOMEONE still wants them - no matter what happens with the better college! Nice ego boost. At least that’s how I see it. Every day or two I come in the house with the mail “Well, University of Oklahoma still wants you”.</p>
<p>I know that at first, it must seem like colleges are preventing their own residents from getting help by doing this, but in reality, they are helping their resident students in several ways…</p>
<p>1) increased rankings helps bring in more grants, donations, etc.</p>
<p>2) students who are high achievers often bring more visibility to a school - Rhodes scholars, Truman scholars, etc.</p>
<p>3) as a school’s prominence rises, it’s finances improve which enable it to offer more help to all.</p>
<p>Sometimes you have to spend money to bring in more money. Kind of like advertising. It’s an investment that will pay off in the long run.</p>
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<p>Has anyone **recently **gotten any NMF offers from the University of Alabama (NMF scholarship full OOS tuition, housing, laptop, study abroad)? </p>
<p>I was wondering because a Bama admissions officer recently told me that altho the scholarship app deadline has passed, they will make exceptions for NMFs.</p>
<p>Thanks for letting us know that Bama still has NMF offers out there. I know someone who wanted to know. They need a NMF scholarship that covers tuition AND room, so this will work for them.</p>