hi, in FL and scheduled to tour USF and Eckerd soon. We also are going to tour UCF, FAU and UF but haven’t scheduled these yet. What are we supposed to do as far as letting the school know about NMSF status? They do something different, right? If the tour is already scheduled do you contact admissions or something? Thanks, new at this
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I’m wondering about this too… I’m assuming that when setting up a tour that you could then follow up and ask about the Honors College (if they have one) and ask if NMSF has automatic enrollment?
Some colleges seem to go out of their way for NMSF and have specific outreach programs for instance UCF has the following on their website:
Which includes a contact to reach out to as well as a brochure (last year’s currently, new one coming soon)
Your contact for the National Merit Scholarship Program is Luke van Blaricom. Feel free to contact Luke if you have any questions or would like to schedule a visit.
Definitely curious as to experiences others have had.
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Absolutely, contact both AO and the honors college. Tell them you are about to visit, and ask them if your child could visit the honors college while there. You may also ask if it would be possible to meet with a representative from a department your child is interested in.
If the school has a designated NMS person, contact them too.
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UCF used to have something in November called a Director’s Forum for NMSFs. Not sure if they still do this; I’m sure COVID 19 has changed things. There was a tour, presentations about the scholarship and honors program. a banquet dinner, and student panels. I think there was also something in March but we didn’t attend that. We had to fly in so we scheduled an extra day so that son could tour the art school and meet with someone there. They reviewed his transcript and mapped out what courses he should take and when, which was helpful. Definitely communicate with Luke if you are visiting. Son didn’t end up going to UCF but visiting was a good experience. (ESPN College Game Day happened to be there when we were.)
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Dont forget FSU
NMSF acceptance into Honors Program Plus scholarship equal COA
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Thank you!
Has anyone not from Florida talked to UCF yet this cycle? I know USF says it’s still giving OOS NMS full rides. I thought UCF would because it’s been such a big focus for them. But I haven’t seen it confirmed.
Has anyone not from Florida talked to UCF yet this cycle? I know USF says it’s still giving OOS NMS full rides. I thought UCF would because it’s been such a big focus for them. But I haven’t seen it confirmed.
Very good question… I haven’t (yet). Still trying to get UCF on my son’s radar as an alternative to UF since we’re OOS - but his list is pretty full (12-18 schools) and we’ve been telling him to cull the list not add to it 
I have reached out to Luke, the NMS contact at UCF. All he has said as they will release their NM package information in October on their website.
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Thanks - I sent an email on Monday but had not received a reply. Together with your update, I’m going to assume they are still working through details, and to check back in a few weeks.