<p>Received the contract for UF Nat. Merit today and they are requiring NM students to take a minimum of 15 credits a semester. The way I have been figuring my classes it was working out to 14 credits - back to the drawing board! (I was already counting in Freshman Exp. and Science for Life) UF already drastically cut the scholarship and now I guess they are making sure we are out in 3 years since most NM students will come in with at least a year's credit!</p>
<p>Just take Intro to Air Force, or Jogging, or some other athletic elective.</p>
<p>Florida, </p>
<p>I've got that (I was a finalist) this year. I actually really didn't think they were asking much because 15-16 credits is generally the norm. I'm (as you said) coming in with over a year's credit in AP credits (but I don't know how those will work out), but I do know they will cap them at 30. </p>
<p>I think you might be a bit confused, 15-16 credits per semester for four years gets you out in 4 years. Then, if you already have a year off due to AP credits, it's 3. It sounds like you may be confused and it also sounds like you might not be. If you have any questions, I'm doing the same process, send me a PM.</p>
<p>Just wanted to note the change from previous years when it only required full time student status which was a minimum of 12. It's not likely I would ever take that few hours, but advisors actually suggest taking a light load for first semester. By adding another class, it looks like I might have 17. UF does max out AP/IB/CLEP credits at 30, but takes all reasonable dual enrollment/community college credits. I know upperclassmen at UF who have to be careful not to meet all requirements for graduation if they want to stay and receive the scholarship for 4 years and that is even when they are receiving multiple degrees. You also have to factor in the number of hours Bright Futures will pay. The minimum 15 hours a semester just makes that a little trickier. Not everyone wants to graduate early - this doesn't have to be the competitive race to the top that it can be in highschool. Hopefully, college will be a wonderful experience. We have the rest of our lives to work!</p>
<p>What do you mean by "drastically cutting the scholarship"? I've been trying to contact them for days and havent' been able to, because I got a letter from National Merit saying I'm getting $500/year from them instead of $1000...have you spoken to them?</p>
<p>Bright Futures is supposed to pay for 110% of your credits required for a degree at UF, which usually equals 132 credits. This does not include any credits you are bringing in through AP/IB/DE, so those of you with 30 hrs of AP/IB already should not worry about Bright Futures running out after 3 years.</p>
<p>Yes, all new national merits have to take 15 credits, but it doesn't mean you have to graduate in 3 years. That's where you can get creative about fitting in study abroad, internships, and/or research, not to mention an additional major or minor. Advisors <em>will</em> help you develop the best plan for you.</p>
<p>It's $500 a semester for a total of $4000 (+$1000 research) if you attend undergraduate for 4 years. Last year the NM scholarship was $3000 a semester for a total of $24,000 (+$2000 research). $21,000 reduction!</p>
<p>songsaboutjane,
Thanks for clearing up the Bright Futures. I heard that you might also be able to appeal for them to pay over the 132 hours if you're in a 5 year degree program (based on undergraduate pay per hour.) Do you have information on that process and how it works?</p>
<p>Here's the info I found about extending BF if you're in a program requiring more than 120 hours (like Engineering):</p>
<p>A student who is in an undergraduate program of study that requires more than 120 semester hours (or the equivalent in quarter or clock hours) may apply for an extension of hours for funding. The application will be mailed to the student automatically when he/she approaches the last 30 semester hours (or the equivalent in quarter or clock hours) of his/her scholarship program.</p>
<p>From: <a href="http://www.floridastudentfinancialaid.org/ssfad/bf/renewchart.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.floridastudentfinancialaid.org/ssfad/bf/renewchart.htm</a></p>
<p>I heard that UF only enrolled 43 new National Merit Finalists this year. They really dropped the ball on the out-of-state NMF. I definitely wouldn't have chosen UF if I hadn't known for years that I wanted to go there. In fact, I didn't receive any form of scholarship offer until after the deadline to declare for most colleges passed (May 1).</p>
<p>I hate to say it, but we completely blew it this year in terms of recruiting NMF. And the new package really sucks for out of state. It was cut by 45% of last year's deal.</p>
<p>they didn't just "drop the ball," it was a calculated move.</p>
<p>Calculated in the sense that the idea was to cut back. Not in the sense that the recruiting process was horrible and there was almost no contact with NMFs throughout the ordeal. There was also a large amount of unexpected turnover in the admissions office due to the changes. That is what caused the most problems. When I visited UF, the person that I had been dealing with had just quit and I was referred to a lady that had no idea what she was talking about.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.clas.ufl.edu/jur/200601/profiles/fay.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.clas.ufl.edu/jur/200601/profiles/fay.html</a>
It looks like this study was instrumental in convincing UF administrators to redirect scholarships away from Nat. Merit. You have to wonder how his comparison group of scholars was chosen.</p>
<p>With the number of National Merit Scholars down, UF rankings that use this statistic will be down. </p>
<p>I agree that with the changes to Nat. Merit and staff turnover, this is probably a very poor recruitment year. I have always planned on UF and even I had serious doubts about sticking with the gators, especially with the big offers and individualized attention the other colleges were giving. </p>
<p>If the scholarships end up being raised next year because this experiment didn't work, (UF is counting on large numbers of Nat. Merit Scholars coming without the financial enticement) hopefully they will do something nice for those of us from the class of 2007 who were loyal to UF in this off year!</p>
<p>I'm not really sure who started the "only 43 national merits this year" rumor, but I've read it in several locations and it's just that - a rumor. I checked with the honors admissions coordinator yesterday, and the numbers actually are closer to 140+</p>
<p>140 sounds alot better than 43. We need the numbers to stay up there so our rankings don't slide! Go Gators!</p>
<p>Floridapearl, that makes you and me 139 and 140. :) Without us it'd be 138, w00t, go us :)</p>
<p>It has to be more than 39... including me there are 5 from my school alone going..</p>
<p>And I know two from the New Orleans area out of about 5 students from the entire New Orleans area heading to UF, including myself. Yeah, 43 sounds slightly skewed.</p>
<p>3 from my school, including me</p>
<p>I forgot to ask...did everyone else get that letter from National Merit last week (or maybe it was the week before) about the UF school sponsored award? I was confused if that was the $1000/year we're supposed to be getting, because it said on it $500/year.</p>