<p>annasdad: I’m a Mizzou graduate and the mom of a Mizzou Class of 2015 student. Please feel free to send me a personal message with any questions. We are instate and did not qualify for need-based aid, so I may not be able much help. I think I have the merit-based aid portions of Mizzou website memorized.</p>
<p>What does your student plan to major in? Getting admitted to Mizzou is not difficult; the requirements are very specific. It’s a 24 on the ACT or a 1090 on M+CR on the SAT.That’s it. Below that, you can still qualify with specific class rank percentage. Let me know if I can help.</p>
<p>Thanks, olderwisermom. She’s undecided - maybe premed, maybe languages or linguistics, maybe elementary education, maybe ?. She’s looking for a place where she can explore a bit before making a decision. The only academic requirement, as I mentioned upthread, is Russian, at least as a minor.</p>
<p>I’m sure she can get in. The question is whether we can pay for it.</p>
<p>I didn’t know MSU’s scholarship had changed. Oh, well.</p>
<p>Yes…and that’s quite a significant change. Dropping OOS tuition to $21k isn’t a bargain when some other states either charge less for OOS or they will reduce theirs much further with the same stats. </p>
<p>From what I’m hearing, many schools have had to reduce/change/eliminate merit scholarships…the economy keeps on taking its toll. BTW…this is the time when many schools change/update their scholarship pages, so keep checking.</p>
<p>There are a couple of very substatial academic scholarships available from Michigan State. My son competed in the Alumni Distinguished Scholarship competition and was awarded full tuition for 4 years (he finished in the top 60-ish out of 1200 or so in the competition). The top 20 or so were offered full tuition, room and board, fees, and $1,000 fun money each year for 4 years. So yes, there is money available for top students. Applicants must be invited to participate in the scholarship competition, however, and it is my understanding that only those initially admitted to the honors colllege are granted the opportunity (and I don’t know if that means ALL honors college admits get the chance…)</p>
<p>There are a couple of very substatial academic scholarships available from Michigan State. My son competed in the Alumni Distinguished Scholarship competition and was awarded full tuition for 4 years (he finished in the top 60-ish out of 1200 or so in the competition). The top 20 or so were offered full tuition, room and board, fees, and $1,000 fun money each year for 4 years.</p>
<p>Michmom…when did your son get that scholarship? It may have been changed for the coming year. Now, a student that finishes in the top 65 for Alumni Distinguished only gets 1500 per year…that’s a huge change from full OOS tuition at $29k per year. Now, top 15 get full rides, and the next 20 get full tuition…and those students would have to have outstanding test scores and GPAs…probably like ACT 34+.</p>
<p>It was this year… spring of 2011. Clarification: his original phone call from the university indicated that he was a finalist by finishing in the top 65. They then conducted phone interviews, after which he was offered full tuition (his final standing was, therefore, in the 2nd tier). The three tiers are: Full ride + $1,000, full tuition, or $2,500/year. Yes, my son does have outstanding scores (36 ACT e.g.), which do doubt helped him qualify for the scholarship competition.</p>
<p>*Yes, my son does have outstanding scores (36 ACT e.g.), which do doubt helped him qualify for the scholarship competition. *</p>
<p>Ahhh…awesome ACT! </p>
<p>So, he probably was like Top 16 or so… Boy! To think an ACT 36 wouldn’t be in the Top 15 at MSU… </p>
<p>I wonder if this is similar to what I was reading elsewhere that suggested students have an ACT 35+ or SAT equivalent to be a strong contender for full tuition or more?</p>
<p>With over 7,000 frosh…and about 15% that have an ACT 30 or higher (about 1000 frosh)…it can strongly suggest that to get down to 35 students to give full tuition or more to, the students have to have super stats. Those 35 students are quite the elite group!!! :)</p>
<p>Congrats to your son (and your family!!!) :)</p>
<p>Thanks! The ACT/GPA, etc. are what qualify one to participate in the scholarship competition. The 1,200 or so students then take a 3-hour test at MSU as part of the competition. This test is what places one in the top 65 or not (I don’t think GPA or test scores are in play after qualification). Only the top 65 scorers move on to the next phase, the phone interview. It is my understanding that a combination of ADS test score and phone interview are the determining factors in distributing the scholarship(s). After all was said and done, he turned it down! He will be studying engineering, and after receiving a couple of nice scholarships from University of Michigan, the cost came down to almost the same as MSU. Given the reputation of UM’s College of Engineering, he thought UM a wiser choice. (Although he really loves MSU’s campus and thought everyone was super welcoming and genuinely nice.)</p>
<p>Tuition, Room & Board at West Virginia University for OOS is $25,986/ 2011-2012 Year.
Round it up, call it $26,000/year. </p>
<p>WVU has Russian & merit aid for OOS students. Plus their football & basketball teams are usually on National Television, the Big East Conference.</p>
<p>I feel that that WVU is a particularly under appreciated school. It has everything that a student can want in a state flagship. My niece is a rising senior there, looking to go to law school. She’s had a great experience there. getting opportunities that she would not have gotten at her state schools.</p>
<p>I don’t know how it is in terms of giving financial aid to OOS kids as it has more than enough in state kids who need the money. But they do give out merit money on a wider scale than many state flagships.</p>
<p>One thing to ask the financial aid and admissions offices, is if there is some consideration given to high stats when awarding financial aid. The financial aid offices hate that term “preferential packaging” or “enrollment management” but many need blind schools use those tactics to attract the most desirable kids to the school. They accept everyone regardless of need, but the limited financial aid is distributed on a preferential basis to the kids they most want, rather than to the neediest. This is also called “merit within need”. There are often scholarships available only to those kids who qualify for financial aid, and they go to the cream of that crop.</p>
BTW…this is the time when many schools change/update their scholarship pages, so keep checking.</p>