<p>taben, I have a D at ASU Barrett. If you have any interest in that PM me. They offer free travel for National Merit kids to visit. I’ve posted a few times on their board. My sense is that they have a lot of Hispanic and mid-east type diversity, but not so much AA. Only 5% which seems low.</p>
<p>I agree, whenhen, that her experience was not typical. NMS get specialized advising at OU. It’s very personalized. My son has all kinds of support from advising and the National Scholars office staff. I know that mistakes happen, but this is the first I’ve heard of something like that happening to a NMS at OU. </p>
<p>As for OU being conservative…everything is relative, I suppose. My very liberal son finds the community at OU to be very progressive. Having grown up in a super conservative part of OK (and I mean super conservative, even for OK), he finds OU to be quite liberal. As mentioned, he lives in the honors dorm and his group of friends are all honors students. It’s a very diverse group, and they have lively debates on a nightly basis. Maybe that is not the experience of students who socialize mostly outside the honors college. I’m not sure what the culture is like outside his small community.</p>
<p>That said, I could see how someone coming from a liberal city/state would find OU conservative. But as OK schools go, OU is second only to TU in terms of how (relatively) liberal it is.</p>
<p>I am not trying to bad mouth OU in any way. Someone here asked what had happened and I shared at their request as well as to make the point that the student has to find the right enough fit to be successful there. BTW, we have two more family members who attend/attended OU and were very happy/successful there. But they grew up in that area and have more conservative values I think. I know that I never would have been able to convince my kids to attend there because it just would not have been the right environment at all. They were/are looking for a different thing.</p>
<p>Goingnutsmom: I just read this thread. I for one did not think that you were trying to bad mouth OU. I thought you were just giving insight into ONE experience that, unfortunately, did not end well. I think hearing reasons a school did not work/fit (whether because of the kid’s behavior or choices or the environment of a college) helps a lot.
Just like Soonermoms post helped understand the conservative thing based on upbringing (great point and something I have to consider…my view of liberal is likely more contained that the view of someone raised in SanFrancisco, for instance!).
As a prospective student, I like posters that can give varying views. Those people that have the ‘My college is great for all and you are crazy to not pick it and if you don’t like it there is something wrong with you’ are not much help to me. Sure, be proud of your school (or around here often of your kid’s college) but don’t shy away from saying some things that might be challenges at the college.</p>
<p>HSG
p.s. Cool Thread. I need a full ride back up school (that could end up being a front runner-who knows!) and want one where there are other NM/NA kids/honors students.</p>
<p>I’m looking for East Coast schools that are academically rigorous that offer full rides including rm/bd for all four years. Any suggestions? My GPA is phenomenal but my test scores need some improvement.</p>
<p>Goingnutsmom…I also did not think you were trying to bad mouth OU. I just wanted to give another view. I think it’s really helpful for kids looking at colleges to get different perspectives. :-)</p>
<p>My two college kids are a perfect example of how one school can be a great fit for one person and not for another. My oldest LOVES TU…everything about it (except for the food, lol.) He really wanted my second son to love it. We visited with son #2 and he knew right away it did not have the vibe he was looking for. Conversely, my older son visited OU his senior year in high school and couldn’t get off campus fast enough, while #2 son is happier there than he’s ever been at any point in his life up to now.</p>
<p>ATM28vacations…I am assuming you are a NMsemifinalist since that this a point of this thread. Check the start of this board for a full list of schools. I think the OP for this thread is trying to focus on colleges where a lot of NMF attend or seem to be considering for this year. You may need to start another thread and provide your stats and interests.</p>
<p>HSG</p>
<p>taben, sorry if I hijacked your thread with my list of NMF schools by rank. I know that isn’t what you were asking about.</p>
<p>Two more thumbs up for TU!<br>
My son is a NM finalist and Presidential Scholar in his junior year there. He loves it. We also visited OU, and though my husband and I thought it was great, our son was very neutral on it. When we his TU’s campus everything clicked and he did everything he could to make sure he got that Presidential scholarship.
He lives in campus apartments withtwo other Presidential scholars, works on campus and keeps busy with on and off campus events. Definitely worth looking at!</p>
<p>atm, have you checked out the financial aid forum here on CC? There should be some links that might be helpful to you. However, almost all of the good merit money (which is what you seem to be looking for) is heavily dependent on good test scores, either SAT or ACT.</p>
<p>Are you a senior right now, or do you still have some time ahead of you?</p>
<p>lwild, We are also interested in TU. Possibly a lot. What do you think was the biggest factor in getting the Presidential scholarship?</p>
<p>Hi WasatchWriter!
When we visited TU the first time, my son’s admission’s counselor let us know that the Pres. scholarship was competitive and that showing interest in the school would help. With that in mind, my son kept in contact with the school every month or so. Anything that he thought could be in his favor he sent along to TU. He sent in semester grades to his counselor. He sent results of his ACT and SAT tests when he got them. When TU came to a college fair in our area, we went and made a point to say hello.</p>
<p>We are from a state other than OK, KS and MO (where we know they recruit heavily) and I think that helped him. He did have excellent scores and recommendations, but I think the continuing contact helped. It couldn’t hurt!</p>
<p>He (and we) really love the school. Small but not too small. Lots of really smart kids. Beautiful campus. Small class sizes. It’s not perfect, but nothing is. </p>
<p>Let me know if I can help more…I’m from the Wasatch front myself–go USU Aggies!</p>
<p>We know UMN at Twin Cities offer $10k per year to NMF if it is named the top school choice. So my D apply to it as they have great ChemE program. It turns out the scholarship for NMF (not sure if it is for all though) is much more than $10k per year as they offer other scholarships at the same time. The whole package is almost twice of we originally thought.</p>
<p>lwild, thanks. We just sent a sort of “here we are” email and our Admission Counselor sent a very nice response.</p>
<p>taben1112, Yes, Ole Miss has been working really hard in the past few years to ramp up its Honors College. It’s really as much getting very bright kids whether or not they are NM finalists. But that said, they do have the automatic scholarships for NM.</p>
<p>Last year the average ACT score for freshmen Ole Miss Honors College students was 31.5. That is a pretty elite group, in my opinion. However, I think Ole Miss is the smallest school in the SEC, and it shows up in the NM numbers. Last year Ole Miss had about 40 NM finalists vs. about 240 for Alabama.</p>
<p>Ole Miss and Mississippi State are the only SEC schools to be located in relatively small towns. Last year Ole Miss got 40 NM finalists and Mississippi State got 16, for what it’s worth.</p>
<p>I personally think the thing to look for when considering these free rides is the existence and/or quality of the Honors College. Alabama, Ole Miss, and Oklahoma may very well lead the way, but these things are a matter of preference.</p>
<p>I might add that I think both my children have a very good chance of making the NM cut in a couple of years, but they are unlikely to attend Ole Miss. We live here, and they don’t want to feel like they are attending 13th grade. But the Ole Miss honors college is top notch, and worth a visit for any NM finalist.</p>
<p>Wasatch…re: the TU Presidential scholarship…I believe the personal interview is really important, as well. We know a couple of students who applied but did not get it. They both were NMF, had fantastic stats and test scores but felt their interviews did not go well.</p>
<p>Soonermom, thanks. I’m sure DD will interview well. Talking her into going to an interview is another story. She’s like me. Terrified till the moment, but then comes through like a charm. This is a hard year to be a parent. (Duh.)</p>
<p>Again, thank you for the help to all. celesteroberts I did not feel that you high-jacked the thread. You offered so direct suggestions that are useful to all.</p>
<p>T</p>
<p>Anyone who has questions about OU for a current NMF freshman, feel free to PM me and I’ll get back to you with any information you want, but I’ve really enjoyed my time here so far.</p>
<p>UMN was one of my top choices because of the merit money. They also kept adding more scholarships as time passed, so by the time I officially turned them down my COA would have been ~$2,000 a year, I think (including some outside scholarships).
I got the info about OU, for example, but I really didn’t want to go to the south.
I ended up opting for Northeastern University in Boston. Full tuition, new type of setting (coming from a small town in the midwest), and it just felt like a really good fit. It wasn’t my cheapest option, because of pricier housing in Boston, but I think it was a really good fit. I have since gotten other scholarships to cover those costs, and with the addition of co-op, I have a net positive income each year after I cover all of my expenses! Northeastern is this year reducing the guaranteed NM scholarship to $30,000, but I have heard they will still offer full tuition to some NM students. Kind of sad, since the NM scholarship was a big reason I started looking at the school. That’s the only one I ended up applying to with a NM scholarship on the east coast.</p>