I’m a junior about to take the PSATs again and this is the year scores can contribute to becoming a National Merit Scholar. Last year I got a 1410 on the PSAT and recently got a 1550 on the new SAT with 7/7/7 on the essay portion. My state has very competitive qualifying scores but I know there’s a possibility I get lucky. I understand you can select a “first choice” school and if you do become a finalist they may later give you a scholarship. However, many of the colleges I’m currently looking at (William & Mary, Duke, UNC, Villanova) only offer $1000-2000. Does anyone know what colleges may offer more aid, like Baylor’s possibly full tuition scholarship?
Congrats on your test scores, you are in a good position to do well on the PSAT and possibly qualify as a NMSF. You’ll need to back that up with a confirming SAT score (which it looks like you will have), a clean transcript and a letter LOR to make finalist.
Searching this site will provide all the info you are looking for, but some of the schools that offer great merit scholarships to NMF’s include USC, Alabama, U of Ky, OU, Oklahoma State, Baylor (as you mentioned), Texas Tech, UT Dallas, Texas A&M, Arizona State, U of Az, Central Florida, Auburn, and others.
What state are you in?
Here’s a high recommendation for ASU. ASU has a reputation for a party school nationally but you will have the experience you select. My son doesn’t drink or smoke and hasn’t had a problem at all. Arizona doesn’t have a ton of colleges…U of AZ, Northern, ASU, maybe a few others. Phoenix has 5 million people that need to be served so they admit many another school wouldn’t. So why go there? To make it up and keep their talented students and attract outstaters, they have created Barrett Honors program. It’s an honors program that gives a liberal arts experience, brings the top students together and gives the best of both worlds. We are high income but not wealthy. We couldn’t afford the elite private schools without financial aid and ASU gave full tuition for four years, plus a bit more, which made it very financially desirable. The education didn’t drop off and we found the ability to create your own major with interdisciplinary colleges very attractive. Also, when checking schools, watch what it takes to KEEP your scholarship. ASU requires a 3.0 and 30 credits. Very doable. If you miss one year, you lose 10% the next year. If you miss again, you lose something like another 15%. It’s not binary, permanent or punitive. All that added up for some financial relief and a chance to allocate our saved dollars to graduate school
My DD is currently on a NM scholarship at UTD. It is a basically a full ride. It pays for full tuition and fees and pays $11,000 stipend for on campus housing. If you choose to live off campus the stipend drops to $8000. UTD also pays up to $6000 for study abroad. This allowed my DD to go to Italy for 6 weeks last summer. The GPA requirement is 3.0. UTD has been a great school for her. It’s most popular programs are STEM, business and ATEC. Its building its liberal arts and humanities programs. It does not have a large sports or greek scene. It is an extremely diverse school. It is an academically focused school in a good area. UTD is in the suburb of Richardson which makes it very safe but the Dallas metroplex is just 15 minutes away. It has been the perfect school for my DD. Check it out.
Thank you. Random question I have not found an answer to. Do students need to pay taxes on the stipend?
@Mnacttutor As its been explained to me, the student will need to pay taxes on any scholarships/stipends that exceed educational costs (tuition/fees/books).
Yes, scholarships applied to room/board/transporation are taxable. A certain amount is taxable at the student’s % and money in excess of that amount is taxed at the parent’s %. I cannot remember what that dollar amount is. I also do not know what the new tax bill has. It does not appear to change the tax free status of merit scholarships for tuition, fees and books. I have seen nothing on scholarships applied to room and board.
@GTAustin the new tax law which I believe will take effect in this year, 2018, will not use parental tax rates but no one knows for sure how it will be handeled until the form are drafted. You might want to check out this thread:
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/2042587-new-tax-law-on-taxable-scholarships.html#latest
Thanks @3scoutsmom. So if I figured it right, the tax will for NM will be $2486/yr for the $11,000 stipend. Is that what you came up with?
That looks like what @traveler98 came up with and it’s the best we can guess until there are actual tax forms available.
Thanks again for giving me the heads up. It will be a tough decision now between NM and McDermott even though I think the opportunities that you get being a McDermott outweigh the monetary disadvantage.
The tax implications for the McDermott are going to much more than National Merit. I’ll be asking lots of questions to see if UTD has any idea about how they plan to address the new tax burden for McDermott scholars.
Well, starting with tax year 2018 there’s a potential for the tax to be zero on the $11k stipend, assuming a dependent student can take the full $12k standard deduction and has no other income. If the student has other income things become complicated in figuring the tax. That tax thread was very informative, along with various IRS publications. It will be interesting to see how everything shakes out with the taxes. My plan is to help S put the correct taxable scholarship total into reputable software like TurboTax and pay whatever the program says S owes. It would be great if it turns out that the whole scholarship is covered by a $12k standard deduction and TurboTax calculates zero tax, but I will also be prepared for the other extreme with thousands owed in tax.
My D internship will take most of the $12K deduction so we will be paying the thousands of dollars on her stipend. We can afford that but this is going to make it harder for lower income recipients. They may have to take out a loan to pay income tax - crazy!
I will second @RedbirdDad ; my S14 is about to graduate from Barrett at ASU. He has had a great experience. He will graduate with a BS in Chemistry with a minor in Business. He received over 30 AP credits that helped him graduate in 4 years even though he changed majors a few times. If you make NMF, they offer 100% tuition. You will need to cover room and board, less than $15,000 per year. Depending on your EFC, you might even get more help. It is a great school, especially Barrett. Barrett provides a smaller, elite college experience on a larger campus. They have turned out a good number of Rhodes, Fulbright, Eisenhower, Marshall and Udall Scholars every year. Check out Barrett, The Honors College.