<p>I have been accepted into OU as well as Dartmouth and Cornell. I am hesitant which to choose because OU is offering a nearly full ride for 5 years because I am National Merit while Dartmouth and Cornell do not look so promising. My family is exactly at 69000 on our income and found out that if my parents were to make any more money next year which is very likely, our financial input would "increase significantly". I would already be paying about 11,000 per year at the current rate and have no idea what it would increase to next year. There is also the frightening stipulation that if I fail to report any income at all (which given all of the scholarships I have applied for would seem easy to do by mistake) then I will be responsible for the entire cost of my education which would easily reach the hundred thousands. On top of all this, I have just recently begun questioning my political science major in favor of neurology/psychology and this makes me more hesitant to pay for the Ivy League because it is quite possible that I could change my mind in the middle of freshman year and have already spent a sizable amount of money on my education. Should I go to OU for undergrad and wait to try to attend the Ivies until grad school or go to the Ivies for both?</p>
<p>Since your family income is less than $75K, you will pay no tuition at Dartmouth and have no loans. At Cornell, since your family income is less than $75K, you will have no loans in your financial aid package.</p>
<p>What is the possibility that your family income will increase above $75K after your first year? </p>
<p>You indicated that you already would be paying $11K. Is this for room and board, or what? </p>
<p>Even with a tuition waiver and additional grants at OU, you still will have to pay somewhere around $5500-$6500/yr in fees and other expenses not covered by the NM scholarship package. </p>
<p>Before you reach a decision, ask the FA offices at Dartmouth and Cornell to clarify the actual costs your family would expected to cover. I believe it’s less than you think.</p>
<p>It is likely that if my parents did not reach the 75k by the first year, they would reach it the next. I do not know how much this would increase the contribution to.</p>
<p>The 11k covers tuition, room, board, books, misc, fees, and transportation according to a statement mailed by the school.</p>
<p>Also, the remaining cost at OU would be covered by campus employment, FAFSA, and other forms of aid that would likely let me come out with a financial surplus.</p>
<p>I was planning on contacting the financial aid offices this week for clarification.</p>
<p>At the end, the choice for our son, a NMS Finance major, was between OU and U. Va., as an Echol Scholar. Money wasn’t the primary factor, although saving over $180,000 was a plus. The benefits of being a NMS at OU include separate advisement your first year, and 1st choice of classes over all the other students. The Honors College classes, limited to 2 a semester, have 19 per class and great professors. Living on the NM floor has been good, and the food is very good. Maintaining a 4.0 is possible, so a graduate school of choice shouldn’t be a problem. While OU started as a safety, that changed when we visited. Our son commented that it is “nice to be wanted.” He is convinced that he made the right choice.</p>
<p>S1 is currently going through the process and OU stacks this scholarship. He is going to have a completely full ride for 4 years plus more toward grad school as they add other money besides the NM package. </p>
<p>Torveaux, does your son have OU scholarships in addition to NM package? My daughter is also starting as a NMS at OU this fall. We haven’t seen any OU freshman scholarships, other than President’s Leadership Class and Community Scholars, that seem to fit her. I’m not sure if we are missing something. She has one small non-OU scholarship that will stack. Any suggestions? We are Oklahoma residents.</p>
<p>Yes. He got an extra 1 or 2 K for Engineering. He also got a 8K scholarship. The stacking also includes every little local scholarship the kids may earn. Some school will lower their scholarships by those amounts so the net cost stays the same. OU has been very clear that he will retain his other money as well.</p>
<p>@Torveaux, the engineering scholarship was departmental that is applied for after acceptance? Semi-automatic or competitive?</p>
<p>D2 will probably not be NMF next year and right now has decided she wants to go to OU… Her other test scores will get her almost all of out of state tuition, but that seems to be it… I am having a hard time not insisting she visits Alabama since as a engineering major they would give her full tuition + $2.5K year. She has visited there already last year with D1 (NMF now freshman Baylor), but that was all about liberal arts. Would love to hear that OU engineering is giving some $ :)</p>
<p>@mytwods The engineering money came after acceptance, IIRC, but was automatic application. I don’t know the requirements. As an NMF, he is eligible for quite a few of their merit offers. He did not make any extra applications for any of this. We got a letter in the mail from the Engineering dept. If was spun as a limited time offer (2 weeks to accept) but was based on receipt of the letter, so it was a soft deadline. I think it is about limited funds for that offer, so if he didn’t want it, they wanted to give it to someone else. The staff at OU has been the most helpful of the schools we contacted. I would reach out to them. Bama was on the short list given the similar scholarship they offer, but in our case anyway, OU was much more interested and made S1 feel welcome. He will be starting at OU in the Fall.</p>
<p>@mytwods I had my son apply to Alabama when he was NMSF in case he didn’t get NMF. She could apply to Alabama and then she can make a decision later. It seems it would be financially better at Alabama, right?</p>
<p>Alabama will definitely be better financially if she does not make NMF and we have a rule that she must apply to at least 5 schools and she has indicated that Alabama is on that list along with Baylor, OSU, A&M and OU, but she has made it clear she is set on OU. We had reached out to OU MN office over the summer via contacts made through her sister last year and they graciously set up her visit even though she was between her Soph & June year. Everyone we met with was extremely welcoming to her and she responded to that. </p>
<p>That’s great she likes OU! I hope she gets NMF, then, so everything could work out. They really are very welcoming there.</p>
<p>Torveaux:</p>
<p>You wrote, “He got an extra 1 or 2 K for Engineering. He also got a 8K scholarship”</p>
<p>Do you mind me asking what the 8K was for? Was it an OU scholarship? </p>
<p>From everything we have seen, the financials are basically the same between OU and Bama. The programs are slightly different, It was an Excellence award that was from OU. They really want NM students and do what they can to make sure they can attend.</p>
<p>Well, if they can reduce the estimated $8K a year cost to closer to $0, they may persuade us. : )</p>
<p>By the way, was that $8K scholarship $8K per year or for all four years? </p>
<p>I’m just trying to figure out whether it’s worth my son’s while to do the essays and apply as opposed to just sticking with one of the schools that’s already offering a full ride. He’s had it up to here with applications and essays as you can imagine. : )</p>
<p>I completely understand. Part of the reason S1 applied at OU was that it was all automatic. Common app, no ‘extra’ essays. If you meet the requirements, you get the money. He did not want to put forth a lot of effort on ‘maybe’ schools or scholarships. </p>
<p>I believe the 8K was over 4 years.</p>
<p>Which school is top on your list right now? Have you factored in cost of living? Our son is very low maintenance, so many of the miscellaneous costs simply do not apply to him. Not sure he will launder his clothes unless he starts to offend himself… LOL.</p>
<p>If you’re a national merit finalist, you don’t even have to write essays. For both the common app and honors college essays students simply need to write “I’m a National Merit Finalist”. The ad coms at OU are required to accept the student (yes, this was told to me by an actual OU admission officer). </p>
<p>Keep in mind that Oklahoma currently has a far better economy than Mississippi and is located next to Texas, a state with a better than average economy. I’ve seen my peers leverage this location to get internships, job offers, and general opportunities that they likely would not have obtained had they gone to a school in a state with stagnant, if not declining job prospects. </p>
<p>My son is low maintenance, too. He has been at OU for almost a year now (can’t believe it!), and he spends very little money. Very little. He eats on campus 99% of the time, using his meal plan. There are so many dining options that he never feels the need to leave. He runs to Target or WalMart once every 10 days or so and spends about $25-30 on snacks for his room but that’s it. </p>
<p>Torv:</p>
<p>Ole Miss and UK are the two that my son has been considering the longest. He chose those out of all the ones that were offering full rides, mainly because they offer both the majors he’s interested in: Comp Sci and Linguistics. The Comp Sci major is offered pretty much everywhere, but Linguistics is a lot rarer. After visiting those two campuses he was indifferent as to which he preferred, so since Ole Miss is cheaper – and a much nicer place – it moved to the top of the list. </p>
<p>OU only recently came onto our radar because they sent us a flyer saying “IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO APPLY”, that they would waive the deadline, that they have dedicated NM staff, etc. At first it sounded very appealing, but then we realized they were not offering a full ride and that it was going to cost substantially more than his other choices. </p>
<p>So again, if he has a good chance of getting scholarships that bring the cost somewhat into line with Ole Miss, then he would certainly apply and fly out for a visit (we’re in California). </p>
<p>I realize that OU may well be worth the extra money. But the thing is, we’re up to our ears in debt from our older son, who is still in college and was not offered ANY full rides. : ) So the extra cost is a big deal for us. </p>
<p>Whenhen:</p>
<p>When my son started the Common App for OU, and put in Comp Sci as his major, he was told that he needed to write a 650-word essay for the Comp Sci department, to be considered for scholarships. Also the Honors College app calls for a 400-word essay. </p>
<p>If you’re right that neither essay is required, that’s great. I have emailed our NM contact at OU and we’ll see what they say. </p>