Ohio National Merit Semi-Finalists- any full rides?

Parents Forum
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<p>My dd will be a senior and we are starting her college search. She is undecided in terms of a major or even the type of college she wishes to attend. She does want to look for colleges that are more likely to offer her a full ride or at least full tuition for national merit semi-finalists. Did any of your students find a college that offered great merit aid to national merit semi-finalists or finalists? I do know about Alabama but think that is too far for her to consider.</p>

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<p>My D. was not NMSF, however, we are in OH. She went to Miami (Oxford) on full tuition Merit awards (she had about 10 scholarships that together exceeded her tuition). She jsut graduated in May. Had awesome experiences beyond our expectations, Miami was a great match for her and we did not have to pay for it. She is off to Med. School, starting in couple weeks, all her pre-med friends are also as happy. Miami is very expensive for OOS, but reasonable for IS and has presented my D. with great opportunities beyond Merit awards.</p>

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<p>There is a discussion board here about NM, [National</a> Merit Scholarships - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/]National”>National Merit Scholarships - College Confidential Forums)</p>

<p>Here is a list of NMF scholarships and if they offer NMSF scholarships, that is noted in parentheses, <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/649276-nmf-scholarships-updated-compilation-33.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/649276-nmf-scholarships-updated-compilation-33.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>If there is no info about NMSF scholarships listed for a school she is interested in, it certainly does not hurt to call the school and ask.</p>

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<p>If you have not looked at the thread below, it’s a good one. My daughter was a NMS and received full tuition at the University of Pittsburgh (not tied to NM). Quite a few Ohio kids go to Pitt.</p>

<p><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&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Cross post.</p>

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<p>I believe Denison gives full tuition to many NMF.</p>

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<p>Denison gives up to 30+ full tuition to NMFs each year. In most years they don’t use all of them. Beautiful town and college.</p>

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<p>I have looked at that thread, but was hoping if asking about Ohio residents I might find some colleges that are closer to home. We will definitely look at Miami. It’s 4.5 hours from us which seems far to me but I know really isn’t. I hope they will offer her some generous scholarships.</p>

<p>NMF Scholarships: An Updated Compilation</p>

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<p>If your daughter’s grades and SATs match her PSAT scores, you may want to look for other merit money other than just NM. Another thing to consider is if there is a convenient airport. When we were doing the search, we looked at schools that are close to where Southwest flies because Baltimore (near us) is a hub. Sometimes, a two-hour flight is easier than a four-hour drive.</p>

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<p>If your D. will apply to Miami, she should apply to their Harrison scholarship - it is full ride. Other Merit awards are automatic and my D’s total award increased after she indicated that she is going to Miami.</p>

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<p>I agree with other posters that if OP’s daughter will be a NMF, she should also qualify for other large merit awards. (And others whose children did not quite make the cut-off might be pleasantly surprised to find out about merit scholarships that include full tuition and beyond that do not consider NMF status.)</p>

<p>Over the years, several students from our high school in PA have accepted generous merit scholarships to CWRU, and from what I have heard from their parents, they have been pleased with their experiences.</p>

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<p>^Yes, I confirm generous merit scholarships to CWRU. My D. has recieved very generous package. Our balance to pay was only $5k/year in tuition out of $33k. She has chosen Miami over Case for UG for non-financial reasons. However, D. is going to Case Medical school (no awards), she is very happy to be accepted there.</p>

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<p>Most up-to-date thread on merit money:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Two older threads with good research techniques:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/148852-what-ive-learned-about-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/148852-what-ive-learned-about-full-ride-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/291483-update-what-i-learned-about-free-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/291483-update-what-i-learned-about-free-ride-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>There are more in Parents and in Financial Aid if you scroll down.</p>

<p>University of Pittsburgh and the Macaulay program at CUNY have attracted a lot of attention here in the past couple of years because of the merit-based aid that they both offer.
[University</a> of Pittsburgh](<a href=“http://www.pitt.edu/]University”>http://www.pitt.edu/)
[Macaulay</a> Honors College - About Macaulay](<a href=“http://www.macaulay.cuny.edu/about/]Macaulay”>http://www.macaulay.cuny.edu/about/)</p>

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<p>University of Cincinnati (at least to date) gives pretty much a full ride, and NMFs can compete in the Cincinnatus competition for a larger prize that also covers books and incidentals. </p>

<p>If for some reason your daughter does not move beyond semi-finalist status, check out Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green – they (again, historically) have been very generous to NMSemiFinalists.</p>

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<p>When you say “full ride”…do you mean “full tuition” or a “full ride”???</p>

<p>A full ride is tuition, room, board, etc…full tuition is just full tuition. Big difference.</p>

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<p>“It’s 4.5 hours from us which seems far to me but I know really isn’t” - Right…it really isn’t that far. Unless the student is especially concerned/anxious about the distance, a 5 hour drive would be a minor factor when chasing merit $. </p>

<p>You may even want to consider schools like Northeastern in Boston, where getting from the airport to the campus is easy via mass transit. In past years, Northeastern has offered full tuition scholarship for NMF.</p>

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<p>Denison offers the Paschal Carter scholarship to NMF, but it has become increasingly competitive, so not offered to all NMF anymore. They actually have 50 incoming NMF yearly now (total is 200 NMF at Denison). If your daughter sends in the Paschal application (same due date as Common app. and supplement), and also interviews, she’ll be considered for it. My S1 was offered it this year (but is attending another school this fall) and it’s $35,000 yr. + an additional $2,000 if you send in NM change card for “first choice school” by late April (you’ll receive this in NMS app. packet in fall). That leaves you with about 13k for room and board. </p>

<p>My nephew, also a NMF, took a full tution ride to Ohio U. He’s been extremely happy there in the honors college. I’ve never seen him more studious and involved. The room and board is about 11K year. Read through all the links posted above --there’s loads of info. on CC on NMF scholarships.</p>

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<p>One more to add: Ohio Wesleyan offered S1 significant merit scholarships unrelated to NMF standing. Schubert Scholarship in addition to Founders Scholarship (they do “stack” merit awards), brought it down to 20K yr. Also a really great offer. I know you are focusing on Ohio, but U. of Richmond offers half tuition scholarship to NMF and so does USC. Good luck!</p>

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<p>Well, full ride would be great but full tuition is great too. We have 5 children- 4 will be in college at the same time. DD would love to go to grad school too, so no loans during her undergrad years is what she is looking for.</p>

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<p>@ mom2collegekids and other interested parties – the University of Cincinnati’s scholarship is indeed “full ride”:</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>([Scholarships</a> & Aid, University of Cincinnati](<a href=“http://admissions.uc.edu/scholarships.html]Scholarships”>http://admissions.uc.edu/scholarships.html))</p>

<p>To date, they have been able to fund all NMS and NAFs who have chosen to attend.</p>

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<p>"University of Cincinnati (at least to date) gives pretty much a full ride, and NMFs can compete in the Cincinnatus competition for a larger prize that also covers books and incidentals. "</p>

<p>-D. recieved much less from Cinci than from Miami and Case. D. took part in “Cincinnatus competition”. However, it was 4 years ago. She has applied to several Ohio schools and got substantial Merit awards at every single one of them and also at one OOS public. However, Miami and Case were definite standouts, the best financial packages by far.</p>