I’ve strongly encouraged my daughter to consider UA as a NMSF (expected NMF), but she has had concerns about the school. (To be honest, I think the real concern is the state’s reputation, which is a bit ironic, considering we’re in Florida.
Over the holidays, though, she took a closer look - and we discussed the challenges (again!) of paying for any of her “wish list” schools, so she took a closer look and was hoping to apply. (I really think if she visited, she’d be quite impressed!)
However, I think we missed the deadline for scholarships. I thought perhaps these were not considered competitive, but according to the (very young) person I spoke to in admissions, we’re out of luck for NMF. Does anyone know if this is true? Seems odd in that NMF status has not even been released yet?
Also, she just got her ACT scores back from a December sitting and she received a 36. Along with her 4.0 unweighted GPA, this makes her eligible for Presidential Elite, I believe. I think we may be good with that deadline, but with only one year of housing, it’s definitely not as good a package. (Which seems odd btw, b/c it’s a much higher bar…)
Finally, if you qualify for both, I realize the scholarship cannot exceed the COA, but is there any stacking of “extras” such as books, travel monies, summer monies, etc.?
Florida has the excellent Benaquisto Scholarship for NMFs. Did she apply to any of the Florida schools? I am not sure if it is too late to apply to Alabama for the NMF scholarship. Hopefully Monday you can contact someone at UA to verify that the young person you talked to gave you the right info. Good luck.
@janiemiranda, yes, she applied to UF and FSU. However, her goal since 6th grade has been to go OOS to college. And we are moving - as an extended family - to NC, which makes staying in-state even less attractive to her (other than Benaquisto). Unfortunately, there are no NMF scholarships in NC - and we won’t qualify for in-state tuition.
Yes, I’ll call to confirm tomorrow. Does anyone have a contact at UA for the NMF program? I’d like to talk to someone who knows a bit more about the ins and outs of the program.
I would love her to have some choices, and while she’s applied to numerous schools, they are all high-reaches except for UF and FSU, either academically or financially (i.e., she needs a competitive merit scholarship to make the numbers work…)
I might try to reach out to your local recruiter and ask again. My oldest is a freshman at Bama on the NMF scholarship and I didn’t remember him having to apply by a certain date to receive it. In fact, I didn’t think the scholarship app was required for the NMF scholarship, but I could be wrong. My daughter is currently applying for colleges, so my brain is turning to mush trying to keep up will all the details of the different schools back to back.
The NMF scholarship is much better than the Presidential Elite, so it’s definitely worth asking several more people before giving up on it.
You can stack, and I think actually stack above full COA. Alabama will actually refund the student for the difference if they have more scholarships above the cost.
Our son is absolutely loving it, and we have been super impressed. In his dorm suite, 3 of the 4 boys are NMF.
Our daughter is a NMSF, and we would love for her to attend UA too, but trying not to push too hard.
I would recommend joining the Alabama Parents group on FB, tons of good info there.
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I spoke with another rep today based in the scholarship department, and he said that NMF was in a different category and we have until May 1. He also said there’s no stacking of NMF and Presidential Elite, so you can’t add the summer monies, for example. Still great news! Wanted to share in case others were interested as well.
sorry I didn’t see this earlier.
NMFs have until May 1st to apply.
There is summer monies for NMF.
National Merit Finalist Package 2020-2021
Value of tuition for up to five years or 10 semesters for degree-seeking undergraduate and graduate (or law) studies
Four years of on-campus housing at regular room rate* (based on assignment by Housing and Residential Communities)
$3,500 per year Merit Scholarship stipend for four years.**
One-time allowance of $2,000 for use in summer research or international study (after completing one year of study at UA)
$2,000 book scholarship ($500 per year for four years
My son is NMF and has been told as long as he lists Alabama as his first choice, he will get the NMF Full Ride. It is an awesome package. He has not decided yet if he wants to take it. He was also accepted in to Honors College, and they have been very helpful and supportive.