<p>What about the overall feeling of OU? Like did you think it was too Greek or football, or do you feel that kids were studious and eager to learn?</p>
<p>On our visit last month, the NM office there had a NMS coed who is in a sorority meet with DD for lunch, and since the girl is also an OU ambassidor, she took us around to our afternoon appointments with various faculty. She was a cute, ambitious, dedicated, fun-loving young-womanā¦just the right combination of everything. Later, a young man who is NMS and in the special Business Honors program stopped by b/c he could tell we were touring (and maybe b/c my DD is a QTPie- he sure zeroed in on her) and he was going in that day to get special permission to take 21 hours that semesterā¦he came to OU with almost two years of AP credits, has finished his first degree in the two years he has been on campus, is getting a masters while still on his NMS scholarship and is getting ready to go abroad for a semester to do a combo academic/religious mission thing.</p>
<p>We also chatted at length with the waiters at Saltgrass who were OU students both nights we ate there, and even the non-honors kids seemed really dedicated academicallyā¦these guys were working to pay for school.</p>
<p>I am sure there are all types, like most schools, but we came away with the distinct impression that, at OU, you would never have to be apologetic about being serious about your education.</p>
<p>Itās a really nice school. Really nice.</p>
<p>Iāll definitely have to check it out!</p>
<p>OU also offers some āintangiblesā such as enrolling for classes before the seniorsā¦since they advertise they have the most NM scholars per capita, they do recruit!</p>
<p>I know Iām a bit late to this thread, but I am a current National Merit Scholar at OU and will be entering my Senior year this fall. If anyone has any questions about OUās NMS package, OU student life in general, or the college selection process, Iād be happy to give my thoughts. </p>
<p>Again, apologies for my tardiness.</p>
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<p>can you tell me why and how much you like OU? how is the med school there? Do they have many out of state students at OU? Does the scholarship cover room & board? My son is more than likely will be a NMSF and is considering OU. Many thanks</p>
<p>-Can you tell me why and how much you like OU?
Like every school, OU has its pros and cons.</p>
<p>Cons:
- As someone noted earlier, OU is definitely a party school. Academics take a backseat to parties, Greek life, Sooner football, and Thunder basketball. Kind of understandable, I suppose. Oklahoma isnāt exactly renowned for its academic prowess, young people like to have fun, and Kevin Durant is pretty much a mystical gift from the heavens. Just please donāt buy into the recruitment spiel about OUās academics.
- Greek life dominates campus, from student government positions to service groups to social events to football games to fashion tastes. If youāre a non-Greek, this kind of stinks because you tend to get shut out of most aspects of campus life. Lesson here: be a Greek.
- The student body is pretty homogenous and segregates itself along Greek/non-Greek lines. Most of my friends are Greek and it can sometimes be pretty difficult to branch outside of that social bubble. For non-Greeks, it can be easy to feel socially isolated if you donāt find a niche quickly, and thatās never a great thing.
- The weather. I donāt even know how to explain it.
- Norman is nice, but youāre still in Oklahoma. There are definitely a lot of great things about Oklahoma. The people are friendly, the economy is strong (until Chesapeake goes belly-up, that is), cost of living is low. But you never hear people say that theyāre intentionally moving TO Oklahoma.</p>
<p>Pros:
- Norman is a nice town, OKC is a short drive away, and you can take a $1 Megabus ride to Dallas. Itās not Austin or NYC, but there are worse places to spend four years.
- The party atmosphere means professors love students who actually care about their studies. Forming close relationships with your professors is pretty easy.
- Itās not that difficult to maintain a high GPA unless youāre an engineering major.
- The cafeteria near the dorms is the greatest thing ever. Not even joking. If there is a better university cafeteria within 1,000 miles, I would be shocked. Plus the restaurants in Norman are pretty fantastic, too. Oklahomans know how to cook, Iāll give them that.
- Professors and faculty are passionate about their jobs and coursework. Like any university, we have our share of terrible teachers, but they are VASTLY outnumbered by wonderful professors who care about students.
- The National Scholars Office people are great and will help resolve any issues you might have.
- OUās study abroad programs are amazing. I donāt know if anyone here cares about that, but I think itās pretty cool. We have an OU campus in Italy (not a program, but there is actually an OU-Italy campus), the Honors at Oxford program is awesome, I hear Honors in Italy is neat, the Journey programs are wonderful, and we have a ton of reciprocal arrangements with international universities.
- D-Bo (President Boren) has great personal connections, so we get some incredible speakers on campus.</p>
<p>I chose OU because I knew that I wanted to attend graduate school and needed to minimize my undergraduate costs. In this regard, Iāve been successful. I am debt-free and in a great position to take on the $150,000+ in student loans that Iāll need for grad school (woo-hoo!). If a NMS knows for certain that he/she will be attending law school, med school, grad school, dentistry school, veterinary school, etc., then OU is a fine choice. Same goes for those who know for certain that they will major in engineering, accounting, meteorology, or energy management (until Chesapeake goes under, at least). </p>
<p>There have been numerous times that I have regretted my decision to attend OU. That being said, I have met a bunch of wonderful people and have had some great experiences at OU. I probably should have chosen a more academically-oriented university or at least one in a more desirable locale, but oh well. Live and learn </p>
<p>-How is the med school there?
The medical school is located in Oklahoma City, about 20 minutes north of Norman. I hear nothing but great things about it. If your son is certain about med school, he should look into the OU Medical Humanities Program. Students who qualify for it get a spot reserved for them at OU Med School, which is pretty awesome. Itās very competitive, and only 5-8 incoming freshmen are selected. </p>
<p>-Do they have many out of state students at OU?
If you consider Texas as out-of-state, then tons (I personally consider Oklahoma to be an extension of North Texas, but thatās just me). It seems like there are more DFW/Houston kids here than Oklahomans. The majority of my friends are from Texas. Due to the top 10% rule, basically everyone who canāt get into UT flocks to either OU or Arkansas. </p>
<p>However, if you donāt count Texas, then there are VERY few out-of-staters here. Most of the out-of-state students who do attend OU are National Merit Scholars who came for the scholarship package. Iām sure the recruitment office will say something along the lines of, āWe have students from 41 states and 38 countries!!!,ā but the fact of the matter is that OU is made up almost entirely of Texans and Oklahomans. </p>
<p>-Does the scholarship cover room & board?
No. The scholarship is generous, it is NOT a full ride. It provides you with a tuition waiver, which is nice. However, over the past few years, Boren and the regents have made a big deal about not increasing tuition. This is all well and good, but National Merit Scholars kind of got screwed over because the cost of the tuition freeze was made up through fee increases. The fees at OU can get pretty ridiculous and sometimes rival the cost of tuition. You get a stipend in addition to the tuition waiver, but youāll end up putting all of it towards fees rather than room and board.</p>
<p>In order to pay for room and board, you will need to either become an RA or find other scholarships. If you negotiate with the National Scholars office, you can sometimes convince them to place you in another scholarship program (PLC, Henderson Scholars, Conoco Phillips Scholars, etc.). Departments also have scholarships and awards for outstanding students. That being said, Iāve actually made money by attending OU, so if you do your homework and find outside scholarships, youāll end up debt-free by graduation.</p>
<p>Sorry for the terribly long reply.</p>
<p>What an excellent post! Lots of great observations! My daughter attended OU last year as a NMF. Three weeks after school started she said she wanted to transfer to UT Austin (weāre from Dallas). She toured OU and was really excited about all the opportunities before she decided to go there but after she got there I think she realized she was a city girl at heart and wanted a more academically challenging atmosphere (mostly more challenging peers than classes). Every school has itās pros and cons and I guess sometimes if difficult to decide if itās the right fit until you get there. She finished out her freshman year at OU and will start UT Austin next fall. Goodbye scholarship. 
(Except Iām not selling the convertible I bought when I thought her college was all paid for!)</p>
<p>OU is good if you are trying to Dave money. The school itself doesnāt have academics as a priority, quite unfortunately. Football really seems to be a priority of the school. Oklahoma is pretty redneck, and very conservative, which may be good for some, bad for others</p>
<p>I will say the the honors college looks like a pretty good deal. The academics seem okay. However, the honors college does have itās own dorm, and there is a floor in that dorm dedicated to NMF. (this is awesome, the regular dorms at OU kinda suck big time)</p>
<p>As mentioned earlier, the food is wonderful during the year. When I toured for national merit as a junior, I was able to experience the lovely food for free.</p>
<p>Overall, I highly recommend touring. It is not the right school for everyone, but a tour is the best way to determine that, and it comes with more information than you could ever need.</p>
<p>-Does the scholarship cover room & board?
No. The scholarship is generous, it is NOT a full ride. It provides you with a tuition waiver, which is nice. However, over the past few years, Boren and the regents have made a big deal about not increasing tuition. This is all well and good, but National Merit Scholars kind of got screwed over because the cost of the tuition freeze was made up through fee increases. The fees at OU can get pretty ridiculous and sometimes rival the cost of tuition. You get a stipend in addition to the tuition waiver, but youāll end up putting all of it towards fees rather than room and board.</p>
<p>this is rather shocking and Iām sure a surprise for many. How much are the fees and what kind of fees are you talking about? Is there a link to a listing of fees? Or can you take a screen shot of the fees that you pay? </p>
<p>I know that when people compare the OU NMF scholarship to Bamaās, they think theyāre about the same, but if what youāre saying is true, then thatās not true at all. Both cover tuitionā¦but Bamaās NMF scholarship covers Honors Super Suites at whatever the current price is (which are about $9k per year)ā¦fees are about 600 per yearā¦obviously not even close. And Bama includes a 1000 stipend which covers the fees.</p>
<p>If youāre saying that your stipend ends up going to āfeesā, then youāre saying that fees are running into the thousands. That would be shocking to learn after thinking that much/most of housing is covered.</p>
<p>The Oklahoma scholarship is a bit complicated, but here is what I think is the bottom line:</p>
<p>The Oklahoma scholarship does not even cover full OOS tuition. (It does cover full tuition for in-state students.) For OOS, it waives only the part of OOS tuition that is ABOVE the in-state, plus $2000 per year of the in-state tuition/fees ($8324.50 total per year). This currently leaves $6323.50 per year tuition/fees that is NOT covered for OOS students, and amount that would increase with any increase in in-state rates. It should be noted, however, these are available for a 5th year included being applied toward a graduate degree.</p>
<p>Both in-state and OOS students also have additional ācollege computer feesā and ācollege program feesā that vary by college ($43.50/credit hour for engineering). This would be another $1300/year for 30 credit hours for an engineering student.</p>
<p>There is a also an additional $5000 (1250 each yr for 4 yrs) college-sponsored NMSC award and $22000 (5500 per year for 4 yrs) to cover those additional fees and other expenses, or alternatively the remaining part of the in-state tuition.</p>
<p>When itās all added up for an OOS student in engineering, those last 2 cover those additional fees but still leaves about $1000 per year of tuition/fees. Room and board would not be covered at all.</p>
<p>Tuition/fees info at <a href=āBursarā>Bursar;
<p>The scholarship info at: [Non-Oklahoma</a> Residents - Future Sooners - The University of Oklahoma](<a href=āhttp://www.ou.edu/go2/home/nationalmerit/non-oklahoma_residents.html]Non-Oklahomaā>http://www.ou.edu/go2/home/nationalmerit/non-oklahoma_residents.html)</p>
<p>I donāt like how Oklahoma advertises āWaives 100% of non-resident tuitionā when in reality it is only 100% of the OOS kicker above the in-state that it covers, while leaving more than 75% of the in-state not covered. I think it is intentionally misleading.</p>
<p>I probably should have mentioned, the tuition fees I quoted were for 2011-2012 and the NM package is for students entering Fall 2013.</p>
<p>When itās all added up for an OOS student in engineering, those last 2 cover those additional fees but still leaves about $1000 per year of tuition/fees. Room and board would not be covered at all.</p>
<p>thanks for the detailed explanation. </p>
<p>The info about Engāg students is really significant. I know a family that will be quite surprised to learn this. They chose OU without really looking at other NMF scholarships thinking that it was a near free ride for their engāg student. </p>
<p>I should have mentioned in my post above, that if you major in Engāg or Comp Sci at Bama, you get 2500 per year on top of the NMF scholarship. So, all OOS tuition and all housing (including honors super suites) are coveredā¦then you can use the 2500 per year towards meal planā¦and the $1k stipend towards fees and books. Plus you get study abroad money and an iPad 3 with 4G and bluetooth keyboard. Your out of pocket costs would be tiny at that point.</p>
<p>^^^ I think the Oklahoma Fall 2013 package I described in Post #31 for OOS is a reduction for the scholarship. I think Fall 2012 was better but I donāt know the exact numbers.</p>
<p>Just for completeness, the Oklahoma scholarship does still include study abroad money and $1500 laptop allowance.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids: I believe STEMFamily already posted this, but here is the tuition/fees info from the bursar. <a href=āBursarā>Bursar; </p>
<p>Keep in mind that this information only covers the Fall 2011/Spring 2012 semesters. The regents just voted to increase fees and tuition at the most recent meeting, so these figures are a little bit low. As you can see, resident tuition is just over $128/hour, whereas the additional fees run $140/hour, not including the aforementioned computer and college-specific fees. Like I said, the scholarship is generous, but calling it a āfull rideā is a bit misleading. You will definitely need outside scholarships to cover the costs of room and board.</p>
<p>pharmacistmom: Iāve known more than a few NMS who have transferred to UT Austin. I should have made the move south a couple years ago, but decided it would be best to keep saving money for graduate school. Austin is a wonderful city (aside from their attraction to a particularly hideous shade of orange) and I have heard mostly great things about the school. Iām sure your daughter will love it there.</p>
<p>Non-Resident
Non-Resident Tuition/Fees* $19,277.50
Room & Board $8,060
Books $1,043
Non-Resident Total $28,380.50</p>
<p>Estimated yearly costs for new and readmitted students.</p>
<p>*This estimate includes 30 credit hours, per hour fees and per semester fees. A number of public institutions report annual cost based on minimum full-time enrollment (24 credit hours). Mandatory fees include: academic facility and life safety, special event, activity, assessment, network connectivity, student facility, library, security services, transit, health, cultural, records and academic advising fees. Mandatory fees listed above do not include college or course-specific fees. There are additional college specific technology and enrichment fees in many courses. Note: All costs subject to change.</p>
<p>The info. above is copied from the OU website. I divided the out of state scholarship total of 92K (not counting laptop and study abroad money) by 4 and got 23K per year, and subtracted that from the non resident cost total estimate above. That left $5,380.50 not covered (not including extra fees, future increases etc.) I think the whole complicated fee schedule is a real turn-off.
IMO students/parents would rather see one set tuition for full time students.
While one of my kids looked at OU very seriously a few years back, their scholarship isnāt quite as good now as it was then. (If you really care about saving money, check out UTDābonus: no football.)</p>
<p>NON-RESIDENT Tuition<strong><em>Additional Fees</em></strong><strong><em>Additional Non-Res Tuition</em></strong>**Total
Lower Division: 1000-2000 level $128.30 + $140.75 + $365.10 = $634.15
Upper Division: 3000-4000 level $128.30 + $140.75 + $365.10 = $634.15
*</p>
<p>So NMF students have to pay an additional $141 per credit? Thatās about an additional $4,300 a year for 30 credits! Wow.</p>
<p>What about the many students, especially engineering students, who take more than 15 credits a semester? Are they paying an additional $634 for each addāl credit on top of that? many engāg majors require 16/17 credits per semester in order to graduate on time. I know many kids who have double majors, etc, who routinely take 16+ credits every semester. Bama recognized that issue a few years ago and increased its NMF scholarship (and Presidential scholarship) to cover 20 credits per semesterā¦40 per yearā¦so students wouldnāt get hit with charges for taking extra classes or being an engāg major.</p>
<p>I agree with Atomom about the complicated fee schedule ā¦ 
but not about the reference to football. College football is a nice diversion and big money maker for these schoolsā¦and often help fund these scholarships.</p>
<p>atomom: This is one more indication of why this package is so confusing, but you cannot just divide the 92000 by 4 to get the yearly amount. The amounts for OOS tuition waiver and the resident tuition waiver both assume 5 years, not 4. So for someone who finishes in 4 years, you have to use 92000 - 11000 (OOS tuition for 5th year) - $2000(IS tuition waiver for one year) for a total of $79000 for four years. That gives $19750 each year for 4 years rather than $23000. That leaves $3250 more than your estimate above for a total uncovered of $8630.50 for four years (plus ācollege program feesā and ācollege computer feesā) The additional $13000 only comes into play if you stay a 5th year.</p>
<p>m2ck: You are also correct that any hours above 15 per semester are not covered, but for an engineering major, you must also add those ācollege feesā which are not included in the $634, so it is really an additional $634.15 + $43.50 = $677.65 per credit hour (based on 2011-2012 numbers). I find this fee structure very annoyingly complicated and was shocked when I first saw how high fees were compared to tuition. Very misleadingā¦</p>