UT Dallas attracts 170 NMF scholars for class of 2022, adding to 160 in class of 2021

Paying for College National Merit Aid
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@CupCakeMuffins as a parent of two NM kids, one attending OU and one at UTD, I can tell you really haven’t looked at the individual programs offered by these schools. My oldest is a meteorology major at OU and OU has one of the best meteorology programs in the world, it’s in upper top 10 across all meteorology programs in any list you look at and number one in severe weather. The National Weather Service Center for Severe Weather is ON CAMPUS and my daughter interacts with professional meteorologists every day. Because of OU’s NM program she was selected for the competitive freshman research program, which gave her the experience she needed to apply and be accepted for a paid internship in Germany the summer between freshman and sophomore year. She’s also done a semester abroad in Europe (covered by her scholarship) and was able to travel extensively. She’s attended to two national meteorology conferences fully paid for by the meteorology department and has held a variety of small jobs at the National Weather Service to get a feel for the various positions and research being done there. There is simply no other place she could get the experiences she is having and that should be the key reason students pick one college over another for the experience, not for the ‘rank’ or the ‘prestige’. The connections she is making now will get her into a great grad school program if she takes that route or a very good job upon graduation and she’ll have ZERO undergrad college debt. She already has a standing job offer at the University of Hamburg upon graduation. Bonus is that OU considers private harp lessons a class so it’s covered under her scholarship even though she’s not a music major so we no longer have to pay for private lessons! She’ll graduate with a BS in Meteorology and minors in comp sci and math.

My son is a Comp Sci major at UTD. They have a very good and well respected comp sci program. Being NM allowed him to participate in the Clark Summer Research program (fully paid for plus stipend) before he even started college. He’s in both the general honors program and the CS2 - the comp sci honors program. He’s only been in school about a month but has made several friends, joined a variety of clubs and likes his classes and professors. Because of his honors programs he is guaranteed placement in any comp sci class. He looked at UT Austin and spoke to current students many said they had a hard time just getting into there required classes and competition for internships and research positions was brutal. Because DS is assured all his required classes and with his AP’s and DE credits and their Fastrack program, he’ll be able to graduate with a Masters in CS and minor in Chinese and spend a summer abroad and graduate with ZERO college debt. There is such a huge demand for comp sci majors companies are not as concerned with the name of the school you went to as what you did when you were there. Yes, he could have gone to a more prestigious school but he wouldn’t get the same opportunities that he can get at UTD and he would have been saddled with student loans.

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My Daughter is at UCF and has said several times she has never been happier in her life. i really am unconcerned about what others think of my daughter’s choice. As long as she is happy and her parents are happy that is all that matters. If other parents want to pay for an overpriced education more power to them. It leaves more room at a school my daughter loves for her.

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I’m glad you approve of your decisions but there is no sure way to tell about outcomes if you had sent those kids the other way. Neither you nor I can tell what could’ve been and what kind of opportunities they missed. We’ll only know of opportunities they achieved so no way to compare. I can completely relate to value of a full ride. It’s nothing to sneeze upon and your decisions were sensible.

As far as medical school acceptance rates, those numbers never tell you full story. They mention acceptances out of 238 applicants, how many does UTD enroll on pre-Med track and how many get weeded out?

If we are going by the information on website than Austin College boasts a 90% medical school acceptance rate. If you asked someone in the know, you may find out that it’s 90% of 20% who survived weeding and were supported by the advising committee to apply and it also includes osteopathic, physiotherapy, dental school acceptances as well.

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Once again I have to disagree. One very important out come is very clear, debt vs. no debt.

I also can compare DS’s to his girl friends current experience. She is in her second year at Stanford as Comp Sci major. GF graduated from the same high school a year ahead of him. They have about the same GPA and SAT and APs. DS was offered summer reaserch position GF was not, GF was unable to find an internship between freshman and Sophomore year, my ds has already been be offered a paid internship for the summer between Freshman and Sopohomore year. DD, at OU, had a paid internship for the summer between Freshman and Sophomore year too.

You might also find the research done by Malcolm Gladwell interesting, google the “Zeitgeist Americas 2013” for the Youtube video.

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@CupCakeMuffins, My Ex went to UTD and got accepted to med school on first try. @Phlipper, I am so glad your D loves UCF! I am a Nurse Pract and as you know it doesn’t matter where one goes to nursing school. Passing the state board is all that matters.

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We weren’t familiar with UTD but decided to tour after learning about the NMF Program. We were very impressed. We’ll return soon for one of the preview days. My son is particularly interested in hearing from robotics faculty. I’ve been reading about the campus, its history and strategic plan. Here’s a recent article that describes UTD’s investments in research and its plans for the future: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2018/07/27/north-texas-finally-top-research-university-bang-drum-loudly-ut-dallas

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Mine is eligible for a full ride there but not interested as fortunately better suited options are available.

UTD is a growing public school and full ride helps in attracting students who wouldn’t take interest otherwise and helps inflate stats . It’s a smart strategy.

UT use to attract as many or more NMSF as Harvard until they stopped participating. Harvard doesn’t participate either. Most colleges are getting away from merit and focusing on need based aid.

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@Riversider, I agree that UTD does offer tremendous merit scholarships both thru NMF and their AES program to get good students to consider UTD. You are right, UTD’s stats are normally equal or 1 point ACT/10 points SAT less than UT and higher than A&M so the strategy is working. I would not say UTD is inflating its stats but is actually earning its stats. It is a school full of smart kids.

My DD did turn down UT CS, full pay, for UTD full ride. Because of the decision to overlook prestige, she is a big fish in a smaller pond. She is first in line for both classes and housing. She will complete her masters in 4 years with it completely paid for by UTD. She has been able to spend a summer in Italy and a month in Peru. She has flexibility in taking classes in other areas which have included fine arts and business. She has done research and will have her 2nd great paying internship this summer. Many of these things would not have happened if she had attended UT because of money or the opportunities that UTD has given her. Life is full of choices but we could not turn down a free education for a ranking. We did have the money for UT, so when she graduates, she has a down payment for a house or can continue her education. It continues to give her options.

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UTD is one of Texas’ best kept secrets. Great school, great NM program.

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UTD has 62% overall acceptance rate so even though they buy a small percentage of high achievers, it’s no where near selective schools only accepting few percent or even UT with 39% acceptance rate. Acceptance rate vary for some majors but I’m talking about overall rate…

It’s a good place to swap good SAT, ACT or PSAT scores for free education but not sure if these freebies are going to last for long. UT system is moving towards more need based aid. UTD can be the next to stop offering money for standardised tests.

I support their model, it makes education affordable for middle class. They provide decent education and opportunities so not a bad choice at all. It’s a great college for clever parents who are looking for a good deal for pre-Med and don’t consider college rankings, or a traditional college experience. It’s not necessarily a great choice for tippy top, wealthy or poor students. Obviously not great for athletes, humanities majors or student seeking intellectual diversity.

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You are right, my DD is not getting a traditional college experience. She is not getting drunk every weekend, having casual sex and worshiping football players. We got that at her HS. She won her triathlon last weekend, she is the athlete. As far as seeking intellectual diversity, I highly disagree. UTD allows the students to take classes in any area they desire. There are no limits. She has met people from all over the world, different religions and cultures. They encourage her to explore the world which she has.

Obviously, you do not like UTD. That is fine, it is not for everybody. Also, you are right that in the future UTD will probably reduce the amount of merit aid they offer but as of right now they are offering a free education that should be considered as well as the other schools that are doing the same. These institutions are offering you $100,000 to $200,000 to ignore ranking. I do not believe you need the prestige to be successful. I think you need to take advantage of all opportunities and work hard. Maybe I am wrong but it has worked out well for my first child. They have/are graduating with a good degree, debt free, money in their pockets and good job offerings in hand. I could not ask for more.

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You certainly can say that it is A safe path for middle class students and their families but not necessarily THE best path. Just like other decisions in life there are pros and cons, just because Kia is A good affordable choice, it doesn’t make it THE best car.

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I wish the best for your child where ever they go.

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all i can say, is that I’m bookmarking this page for my 8th grd daughter to look at. I’m very impressed with the opps/internships that you’ve had at UTD. She’s the youngest of 4 and we are going broke with that many kids to put through college. Your posts are inspiring and helpful! Hoping they’ll continue NM program!

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@bgbg4us, UTD also has a good merit scholarship program beyond NM that is based on test scores and ranking called AES. Again, the school has been very good for my DD and meeting her needs and desires. Do keep it in mind!

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Although I agree, I think if you want to do a car analogy with National Merit at Ivies vs UTD it would be more akin to paying $400K for a Lamborghini Diablo (high prestige, high dollar and helluva flashy) versus someone giving you $125K Porcsche Cayenne Turbo (very respectable ride and FREE). Circumstances definitely vary based on financial situation/need and the education track being pursued, but for our situation and kiddo (that is likely to pursue grad or med school) choosing an Ivy over UTD would be foolish. If he was going into politics or finance the situation would be different though.

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According to the NMSC 2017-18 annual report, UTD enrolled 175 national merit scholars for Fall 2018, higher than the 170 that was first reported.
https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/annual_report.pdf?gid=2&pgid=61

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Last year it was Cupcakemuffins, this year its Riversider. I never understood the need for some people to validate themselves by belittling others choices. Hey, if you want to pay the sticker price for a “selective” school more power to you. I will laugh as my DD pockets about 5 grand a year in extra funds from her scholarship, graduates from a great university with zero debt and watch her kill it after she graduates. UTD is an excellent University, good luck at whatever school your son/daughter chooses.

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Part One - this is long!

@Riversider care to explain this statement:

So because UTD doesn’t have football they have no athletics??? Please check this out https://utdcomets.com/ This is in addition to host of competitive club level sports. One of DS’s roommates is big into circus acrobatics and is trying to start a club level aerial acrobatics group. Other than football UTD has athletics pretty well covered. Since this is a National Merit thread I’m assuming you not talking about schools that buy athletic talent through sport scholarships, since UTD offer a full ride to all National Merit applicants.

UTD is a great school for Humanities majors, just because it’s better known for it’s STEM majors doesn’t mean it’s Humanities are “not great” One of DS’s roommates is double majoring in IPE (International Political Economy) and Literature. The other is majoring physics with an emphases on applied research and minoring in Art History - I did ask about this unusual combination and he said he just really enjoyed studying art history. DS is a comp sci major but loves studying Chinese so he plans to get a minor in that. - [Warning not so thinly veiled brag ahead] The US State Department must think UTD’s foreign language is pretty good since DS applied to the highly competitive Critical Language Scholarship summer program and made alternate as first time freshmen applicant. It’s very rare for a first time applicant to even make it to semifinalist since applicants are encouraged to apply multiple years and is open to all US undergrads, grad students and Phd students

Speaking of art, did you know that UTD has a world class art collection and has recently been given TWO amazing collections, the entire the collection of the Trammell and Margaret Crow Museum of Asian Art, together with $23 million of support funding and the Barrett Collection, with of over 400 works of Swiss art, the largest gift of art to any school in The University of Texas System.

https://www.utdallas.edu/news/giving/crow-family-donates-asian-art-collection-funding-for-new-museum-to-university/

https://www.utdallas.edu/news/giving/barrett-collection-of-swiss-art-gifted-to-the-university-of-texas-at-dallas/

@Riversider So did you even bother looking into why this is the case instead of jumping to erroneous conclusions? To do this you need to look at the history of UTD, it is a very young school that has change drastically in recent years.

UTD was founded as GRADUATE school (then call Graduate Research Center of the Southwest), started by the founders of Texas Instruments in 1961 but the first building wasn’t built on campus until 1964. In 1969 it was transferred to the State of Texas and became UTD. Juniors and seniors weren’t admitted until 1975. UTD didn’t start admitting freshman and sophomores until 1990. The State of Texas, at the time, really didn’t want UTD to enroll freshmen and sophomores because they were concerned how this would effect UT Austin. So they put all sort of crazy restrictions on the admission of freshmen and sophomores including requiring and articulation agreement with both Dallas and Collins Community colleges based on credit hours that’s still in place today and the and various other requirements to keep UTD from competing with UT Austin for freshman applicants https://www.utdallas.edu/create/articles/1990.html

Just because UTD is REQUIRED to accept certain students, those students are still held to the same standards once enrolled. UTD has a very collaborative environment (no weed out classes) and offers lots of academic support, but there’s no guarantee that these students with lower test scores will succeed (or those with higher test scores for that matter) and I’m glad they are given a chance. In 2006 UTD expanded it’s articulation agreement to include all 50 community college in Texas https://www.utdallas.edu/enroll/transfer/comet-connection/ I think this explains UTD’s acceptance rates, many Texas public high schools encourage dual enrollment while in high and these students are still considered first time freshman applicants but at the same time, still qualify this program. I think including these students adds a bit of “intellectual diversity” so not everyone on campus has a 1500+ SAT score, don’t you agree?

In 2009 (only 10 years ago!) opened it’s first Dining, and Residence Halls. In 2014 five new residence were added marking the beginning of the end of the end of the the “suitcase” era, In 2016 Northside (a privately run apartment and restaurant complex that rents land from UTD) opened adjacent to campus, phase 1 included 600 beds and more than 20,000 square feet of retail, with a combination of apartments, town homes, stores, restaurants and entertainment venues. Phase2 opened in 2018 and includes 323 units available for students as well as some faculty and staff members. This expansion added 900 beds to the university’s housing stock, Canyon Creek, the newest on campus apartments, just open fall of 2018 which added an additional 800 beds on campus.

In recent years UT has seen unprecedented growth, going from an under-grad enrollment of 6,428 in 1990 (the first year they admitted freshmen) and graduate enrollment of 2,257 to 2018 with an under-grad enrollment of 19,872 and a graduate enrollment of 8,885. With the constant construction to keep up with the demand for space, is it any wonder that the crane (or enarc as it is refereed to by more fanatical students) has become UTD’s unofficial mascot? You might find this report interesting https://www.utdallas.edu/masterplan/download/Campus_Master_Plan_Update_20181210.pdf

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Part two…

@Riversider I’m not sure you understand how need based vs. merit aid usually works in the State of Texas for Texas public schools. Texas actually does a pretty good job of making it’s public schools affordable to it’s low income residents. The state maintains a central distribution of state aid with a need need based component, these state funds are then distributed Texas Public school for disinterment, this assures that all Texas publics get their fair cut of the pie. Many people mistaking assume that this is “school money” when in fact it is money from the state and must be used for very specific programs. (with the exception of some very specific programs required by law like the “set a side program” which require institutions to set aside at least 15 percent of tuition charged to a resident undergraduate or graduate student that exceeds $46 per semester credit hour, to provide financial assistance to its students that have a gap in their need based aid) The programs included in State need based funds include Grants and Scholarships, Loans, Loan Forgiveness Programs, Loan Repayment Programs, and Tax Credits Programs.
You can learn more about them here http://www.collegeforalltexans.com/apps/financialaid/tofa2.cfm?ID=435

Additionally, Texas schools frequently offer need based aid through privately funded programs. The Terry Foundation at both UTD and UT Austin and many other Texas schools is an excellent example. Not only does this program provide full COA but it also provides academic, cultural, mentoring support.

Merit aid can also be private or institutional, privately funded scholarships set their own rules, not the schools and I just I can’t imagine the large prestigious scholarships like UT Austin’s 40 Acres (funded by the Texas Exes) or UTD’s McDermott Scholarship program (funded by the McDermott Foundation) adding a need based component, what leads you to believe that merit aid is going away at UTD? Can you site some facts? UT Austin and UT Dallas, although under the umbrella of the state UT system, are independent of each other. They don’t even charge the same tuition, not sure why you think because UT Austin does something UTD will follow.

Also UT Austin ended it’s National Scholarships in back in Fall of 2010 citing “financial constraints” the truth of the matter is that UT Austin has more well qualified applicants than it can handle. By TX law, Texas public schools are required to admit students that graduate in the top 10% of their TX public high schools. UT Austin simply has run out of room and has no plans (or space) to expand. They had to get a legislative exception to only admit the top 6%. Last year more of the that 6% committed than anticipated leaving them with more students than space to put them. This year they only admitted the top 6% and those with very strong hooks like star football players, leaving no wiggle room for those that missed the top 6% by even a fraction a point. Since most of these students would be National Merit but they are wiling to attend UT Austin as full pay, it only makes financial sense to use their institutional aid money else where.

UTD, on the other hand, is young and still growing with a projected enrollment of under-grads close to 25,000 in 2030. Their National Merit and AES scholarships aren’t going away any time soon. I have spoken directly to staff in the CV Honors program about this at lengthen. In fact that they were very candid about the fact they monitor other school’s NM scholarship packages and tweak theirs as needed to keep it competitive. They like National Merit students, National Merit has been around for a long time and it gives the them a good metric that is quickly understood by others.

As other posters have pointed, TD also offers very generous AES (Academic Excellence Scholarships) based mostly on stats. The requirements change a bit each year because it is a fix number of awards and each year more and more high stats are applying to UTD. In fact this is the first year the haven’t published expected “ranges” for each level because the competition has has gotten so tough.The highest level of AES, assuming you live on campus and take the mid-level required meal plan, will leave you out of pocket $5K for your freshmen year, less if you choose to live off campus as there are no restriction the stipend. This is my son’s plan “B” should the state of Texas have and unexpected increase in the Nation Merit cut off. What’s great about the AES awards is their is no additional application required, all freshmen UTD applicant’s are considered for this award. And no, the AES awards aren’t going away again I asked. I fail to see how this is any different from other schools that offer merit scholarships with acceptance.

@Riversider I’ve spent a great deal of time on this post, in fact it’s the long post I’ve ever made to CC! I do hope you will also take the time to address each of my points so we can separate fact from opinion.