I am currently a junior in HS and have been looking into UA, especially their generous scholarships for ACT and National Merit achievements. The NMF Packages states that it includes “Value of tuition for up to five years or 10 semesters for degree-seeking undergraduate and graduate (or law) studies.” If I become an NMF and attend UA, could the extra year (up to five years) be used at UAB School of Medicine? I understand that the med school is not in Tuscaloosa and my question is probably a difficult one to answer. Any information on this area would be extremely helpful!
That 5th year is potentially so very valuable. S18 is not necessarily excited at the idea of spending more year(s) in school right now, but knowing the flexibility it provides is a selling point. Just not for the medical school!
The Univ of Oklahoma scholarship fifth year can be used for medical school (or law school.) Some students at OU have been able to complete UG requirements in 3 years-- allowing them to get the scholarship for 2 years of med school. Food for thought…
@oneundecided
The OU NMF scholarship is **far ** less attractive than it used to be. I’d need to look at the numbers, but even if one KNEW they were going to medical school, and even if one KNEW they could complete undergrad in 3 years, I am not sure the benefits of being able to use the extra year at medical school at OU outweigh the much better general NMF scholarship benefits still available at UA. That assumes OOS for both schools.
@DavidPuddy really all they removed was about $1k (from travel and tech stipends) and first year housing stipend (about 4k)-- yes OU’s fees are not little, but the scholarship does cover some portion of those. So in all, it’s about 5-6k less now than it was 2 years ago-- not an insurmountable difference.
In addition to removing the $4,200 one time housing scholarship, and in addition to reducing the technology and research stipends by $500 each, OU has also changed the tuition scholarship program for national merit scholars. This can be found quickly by reviewing the “NATIONAL MERIT FINALIST Package for Non Residents Entering 2018” and comparing it against the 2017 document.
Essentially, instead of full tuition reimbursement (valued at roughly $94,500 over four years), OU now provides a “Non Resident Tuition Waiver” valued at $77,000 which waives the non resident tuition. It then allows for a Partial resident tuition waiver of $2,000 per year (for up to five years).
The changes to the 2018 program net a reduction of over $4,000 per year compared to prior years. Not a reduction of $4,000 one time.
The benefit, as stated above, is the OU programs “can be used toward any graduate/professional program at OU if funds remain after completion of undergraduate degree (including medical school and law school)”
@DavidPuddy – ahh… I see, I was not aware that they dropped the non-resident portion to only 2k per year. I have a D16 who has the better package-- and though it is less than what she could have gotten at UA, her experience at OU has been worth every penny; and costs a bit less than the package from our instate flagship. But I could see that, for some, the additional expense could be a deciding factor.
@DavidPuddy – we did not visit UA but live in SEC territory and have many friends there. She felt her particular area of engineering interests were not strong at UA; she did consider Auburn… but ultimately, fell in love with the sense of a strong scholars community at OU. The professor she met there on her first visit, has become a very supportive mentor-- helping her make professional connections both on and off campus, and helping her to refine her career aspirations.
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The Univ of Oklahoma scholarship fifth year can be used for medical school (or law school.) Some students at OU have been able to complete UG requirements in 3 years-- allowing them to get the scholarship for 2 years of med school. Food for thought…
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@oneundecided
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That’s only if they get accepted to OU’s med school. There’s no guarantee, and certainly chances are MUCH MUCH MUCH lower for the OOS students. The numbers are so lopsided, that an OOS student has little hope for even an interview, much less an acceptance.
The instate advantage is huge at OU med…about 80% of their applications come from OOS, but only 8% of their matriculants are OOS…92% of the med school matriculants are instate…and that 8% includes their MD/PhD students who typically are OOS because there’s no preference given for MD/phd. So, of the approx 15 OOS students, about 10 are MD/PhD.
So the chances of being one of those approx 5 matriculating OOS students out of the 1800 OOS apps are frightfully tiny.
No OOS NMF should count on using any remaining years at OU med.