<p>Hi everyone what does the OU national merit scholarship contain? And do they do anything for students that come that are Semi Finalists? Like do they pay for hotels, and give you free stuff to things such as basketball or football games? Does anyone know any other schools that do similar deals for Semi Finalists? And lastly, does UT have any scholarship money for out of state national merit?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>UT does not…</p>
<p>Alabama gives big NMF scholarships. Free tuition, Free housing (including honors super suites with private bedrooms), study abroad money, $1k per year, and iPad.</p>
<p>What about incentives for visiting the school?</p>
<p>Hey, m2ck… I think soupsong is saying that he/she is a NMSF and not NMF. In that case, they wouldn’t be able to apply to UA at this point. And if they had already applied by the Dec. 1 deadline, they would receive full tuition, but not the other awards. Am I correct? And I’m not sure any schools pay for you to visit. I could be wrong though.</p>
<p>You can see the website for details ([National</a> Merit - Future Sooners - The University of Oklahoma](<a href=“http://www.ou.edu/content/go2/home/nationalmerit.html]National”>http://www.ou.edu/content/go2/home/nationalmerit.html)) . </p>
<p>But in general OU’s NMF scholarship is a little different in that it covers free tuition for five years. The bonus is you can use that free tuition for grad school or med school if you graduate in 4 or less years, and attend a program associated with OU. For example, if you want to be a doctor and get the OU NMF deal, then assuming you finish in 4 years and get accepted to OU med school, your first year’s tuition would be free.</p>
<p>In addition to free tuition,the NMF scholarship also provides some money for room and board, books, etc. (not full coverage, but not bad at all), a $1500 laptop allowance, and a $1500 stipend for study abroad, if you go to an affiliated OU campus.</p>
<p>They have a dedicated NMF staff to help NMFs throughout their college years, and allow NMFs first choice of classes, and things like that.</p>
<p>As far as I know, they don’t have anything specifically designated for NMSFs, but like most schools, they do have scholarships for various academic merit.</p>
<p>With regards to paying for a visit, I seem to recall they will pay for a night at a hotel, but I am not sure.</p>
<p>NMSFdad: I am a junior right now, and on track to be a finalist. I have just heard that Oklahoma does a lot of things to get you to visit such as give you a lot of free stuff, such as shirts, and tickets.</p>
<p>Oh! I got it now, soupsong. Thanks for the clarification. Sounds like OU may be the place for you then. If dramadad is correct, you might want to schedule a visit. Good luck!</p>
<p>@soup - are you just interested in OU for the freebies?</p>
<p>I can give you some quite dated feedback on OU, as I am an alum from there.</p>
<p>Some additional information that adds to the link dramadad posted:
[FAQ</a> - Future Sooners - The University of Oklahoma](<a href=“http://www.ou.edu/content/go2/home/nationalmerit/faq.html]FAQ”>http://www.ou.edu/content/go2/home/nationalmerit/faq.html)</p>
<p>I think you should visit both Bama and Oklahoma…as someone who’s been on both campuses, I think there are some differences.</p>
<p>^ OP did not express any interest in Alabama. </p>
<p>I think that anyone would see a lot of differences in lots of campuses :-)</p>
<p>OU is a party school (it IS a state football school :-)), but the community is strong, fun, and friendly.</p>
<p>We were recruited by OU because of NM, they did offer to pay for one night of accommodations if we visited. They did not mention bribing us with other items, although we got a free t-shirt for going to their local presentation. I don’t think I would go for a visit to get “stuff” unless you are serious about the school. The local dinner program was very nice though.</p>
<p>Ok awesome! I will definitely look into it.</p>
<p>crazymom quote:</p>
<p>^ OP did not express any interest in Alabama. </p>
<p>===========</p>
<p>Crazymom…you really need to read what the OP wrote. The OP asked if any other schools give scholarships like Oklahoma does.</p>
<p>He asked: “does anyone know of any other schools that do similar deals for semi-finalists?”</p>
<p>I’m a NMF attending OU next year- and no, they don’t give you tickets to see basketball games or football games. They do, however, as dramadad said, pay for a hotel for one night for you to come see the campus and participate in a personalized visit. The OU scholarship for Finalists is impressive, and they’ve got a great honors college and office dedicated to National Merit students. Almost every college I’ve been to has given me a t-shirt, NMSF or not, so if you’re looking for t-shirts, most any college will fulfill that. </p>
<p>And even though OU may come off as a party school, I also believe it’s a top-notch instutution under David Boren. Hope this helps!</p>
<p>We visited OU via NMS office there. We got a day bag and a tee-shirt. The trip cast us about $500 driving from Houston and staying two nights.</p>
<p>Expensive swag, lol. Of course, the NMF offer there is might nice ;-)</p>
<p>Shoot, we didn’t get the day bag! We did get a night’s hotel stay, which was in a OU-sports-themed hotel. We got a baseball room (I don’t remember who the player was). :-)</p>
<p>Yes, expensive swag, but good offer.</p>
<p>Did you get a chance to sit in on any classes?</p>
<p>We didn’t get the hotel room (Sooners Legends?) but, you don’t still have the room…and DD does still have the bag! (And uses it daily for her dance clothes) lol</p>
<p>soupsong, yes, DS sat in on an honors history course and very much enjoyed it (which from him is high praise - he loves history and DH is a history teacher). He also met with a couple of professors from his intended major; they were quite helpful.</p>
<p>We’re having trouble getting even paid-for swag! I ordered an OU sweatshirt for DS when he decided. The package arrived yesterday but turned out to contain an Indiana hoodie!</p>