Substantial NMF money at more selective schools?

Paying for College National Merit Aid
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<p>Does anybody know of top tier schools that give a good amount of money to NMFs? They seem very rare. I think everyone here should check out USC, because they're ranked well and give guaranteed half-tuition to NMFs. I wish there were more programs in place like this...</p>

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<p>Schools that have automatic award for NMF:</p>

<p>USC: half tuition (~$21k)
<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/admission/fa/private/docs/1112/uscScholarships1213.pdf”>http://www.usc.edu/admission/fa/private/docs/1112/uscScholarships1213.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Northeastern: $30k
<a href=“Undergraduate - Applying for Aid | Student Financial Services”>Undergraduate - Applying for Aid | Student Financial Services;

<p>Baylor: full tuition
<a href=“Undergraduate Admissions | Baylor University”>Undergraduate Admissions | Baylor University;

<p>Fordham: full tuition
<a href=“http://www.fordham.edu/admissions/undergraduate_admiss/financing/financial_aid_facts_31974.asp”>http://www.fordham.edu/admissions/undergraduate_admiss/financing/financial_aid_facts_31974.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Knox College: ~$22k
<a href=“http://www.knox.edu/admission/scholarships/academic-scholarships.html”>http://www.knox.edu/admission/scholarships/academic-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>WPI: minimum $20k
<a href=“http://www.wpi.edu/admissions/undergraduate/apply/merits.html”>http://www.wpi.edu/admissions/undergraduate/apply/merits.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>RIT: ~$18k
<a href=“http://www.rit.edu/emcs/financialaid/table_merit.html”>http://www.rit.edu/emcs/financialaid/table_merit.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Univ of Alabama: full tuition x 5 yrs; 1 yr housing stipend; $3.5k/yr stipend; $2k enrichment stipend; automatic admission to Honor College
<a href=“National Merit Scholars – Scholarships | The University of Alabama”>http://scholarships.ua.edu/nationalscholars/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Auburn:: full tuition; full tuition; ; 1 yr housing stipend; $4-8k stipend; $2.5k enrichment stipend
<a href=“http://www.auburn.edu/scholarship/undergraduate/national-scholars.html”>http://www.auburn.edu/scholarship/undergraduate/national-scholars.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>Univ of Oklahoma - about 168K dollars worth of money that is stackable and can be applied over 5 years (including grad school)</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.ou.edu/content/go2/nationalmerit/scholarship.html”>http://www.ou.edu/content/go2/nationalmerit/scholarship.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>To your question…highly selective schools offer little or no merit aid at all. Remember the USC thing is just half of tuition, not half of cost. You still end up with $30K per year of expenses (or more).</p>

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<p>My son was offered half tuition at USC, but that school turned out to be our most expensive option. It doesn’t include room and board plus the other “half” of the tuition is still due. He chose another “selective” school that was a lot less expensive.</p>

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<p>Paying $30k/yr is a helluva lot better than paying $60k/yr at non-merit schools…</p>

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<p>If you’re interested in Knox, read the description very carefully. The NMF scholarship is actually $2000. You also win the $20000 Lincoln Scholarship, bringing the total up to $22K. $22K is the maximum award you will win (unless you win one of the very few Presidential Scholarships). My D and I mistakenly believed that the Lincoln and the large NMF were separate and stackable, so we were counting on a $42000 award. That’s not the way it works.</p>

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<p>Does anyone have any experience with Kentucky? Is it truly a full ride?</p>

<p>How does Kentucky compare with OU?</p>

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<p>I just got home today from dropping my daughter at UK. The Patterson scholarship is almost a full ride. They pay for tuition and fees, the cost of honors housing, and a stipend. They provide the basic meal plan, which I think will need to be supplemented. She got the iPad Air at a nice luncheon yesterday.
The stipend has not yet been applied, nor has the NM scholarship portion, but we have only had to pay out of pocket for books and to upgrade the dorm. If one lives in a dorm that is not as expensive, it might cover almost everything. It is one of the best financial deals out there this year. Hopefully, they will keep the scholarship the same.
We have been very pleased with everything at UK thus far. The people are beyond nice. The staff is very responsive to questions. Although nervous that my “baby” is so far from home, the K week activities are putting me at ease.</p>

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<p>My son is a freshman at UK this year. I agree with NaperMom as it is one of the best deals out there for NMFs. In addition to all the benefits she mentioned, there is also a $2000 summer abroad stipend that will be given to the student. Interesting to note, I was looking at UK’s website today and the incoming freshman scholarship page, where the Patterson scholarship used to be listed, is telling you that “new scholarship information is coming soon.” Wonder if they will re-vamp the Patterson scholarship? Anyways, the luncheon was great yesterday and my son; who had been feeling a teensy bit homesick, really perked up with getting a new iPad. And Coach Cal dropping in was fun, too!</p>

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<p>UK is my daughter’s dream @napermom and @kyproud but we are out of state (Ohio) so she knows its only going to work if she is NMF or gets the Otis or Patterson scholarship. I’m interested in what the changes may be as well as she is a junior. We will see. </p>

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<p><<<
Auburn:: full tuition; full tuition; ; 1 yr housing stipend; $4-8k stipend; $2.5k enrichment stipend</p>

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<p>Auburn does not give full tuition to OOS students. The award is about $6k short per year for tuition currently. The award does not increase as tuition increases so that difference will grow each year. </p>

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<p>If you are an eng’g or comp sci student, you get an add’l 2500 per year…so $6k per year stipend…nice.</p>

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<p>Don’t forget Ole Miss! <a href=“http://finaid.olemiss.edu/scholarships/”>http://finaid.olemiss.edu/scholarships/&lt;/a&gt; </p>

<p>We were extremely impressed with their Honors College. My very Northern daughter and likely NMSF is headed there for Fall 2015.</p>

<p>Hotty Toddy!</p>

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<p>I second Northeastern. My freshman peer leader went there on the NMF scholarship and liked it. </p>