Where the National Merit Scholars are

<p>Need - we have two in college.</p>

<p>My D selected Wesleyan (ED admit). Like others, she received unsolicited free rides from several places including, I believe, Oklahoma and Arizona State.</p>

<p>NMS from last year - attending Boston University. I ended up getting a corporate sponsor award though rather than something through my college.</p>

<p>My son was a NMF in 2004. He chose UF. He received a corporate-sponsored NM scholarship along with the $4500/yr that UF offers to in-state NMFs. Florida's Bright Futures scholarship also helps. It was completely his decision to choose the full ride over a top 25 private and a top 25 public, both with considerable merit money. He couldn't be happier and it was the right decision for him.</p>

<p>Re: #56, Cathymee's post:</p>

<p>UCF currently offers guaranteed admission to the medical school at the University of South Florida (in Tampa) for students admitted to its Burnett Honors College. Students who desire and accept this option actually begin their first year of medical school during what would be their final undergrad year at UCF. My D, who is planning on attending medical school, declined the offer as she is looking into other medical schools with good Pathology programs.</p>

<p>Wow! Congrats</p>

<p>gymeni - thanks for the info. on univ. of central florida and the med. school admission to usf. do they offer anything similar for those wanting to go on to law school?</p>

<p>drj4 - thanks for the post. </p>

<p>thanks to all who are posting on this thread. very good info. for nmsf's and nmf's to have:)</p>

<p>Hi, Condor,
I am not aware that UCF offers such an admission deal for those high achieving students interested in law school. It couldn't hurt to contact their Burnett Honors College and ask about it, though (<a href="http://honors.ucf.edu/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://honors.ucf.edu/&lt;/a> or (407-823-2076)).</p>

<p>Atomom: What did your S & H love about Oklahoma? Would love to know because s will probably be a NM next year and we may try to squeeze in a visit to OK. </p>

<p>What were the things that caught your family's eye? What area do you think you s will major in? Did the major have anything to do with his liking the school?</p>

<p>jlauer95,</p>

<p>You asked about what UNC-Chapel Hill gives NMFs. My daughter received $1000 per year. I believe that is contingent on keeping her grades up, and lower income applicants receive more. She also received a $5,000 per year scholarship from UNC-CH last year (again contingent on grades, I believe). However, beginning this year Carolina has made their scholarships much more generous to out-of-state recipients than to in-state, so a similarly qualified OOS student would likely receive a full ride.</p>

<p>thanks gymeni - d will check with ucf when she visits. </p>

<p>does your d feel like the academics are strong at ucf and that she'll be well prepared to go on to medical school? how does she like the honors college?</p>

<p>jlauer--see my long PM. Oklahoma seemed very well run, (strong leadership, vision) organized, clean, attractive, well-maintained for such a large school. (My kid was looking at architecture and computer science depts.--the impression was of the school as a whole, not really the departments--which seemed good enough to him, though I know they aren't tops in the nation). Yes, I realize that this is a PR job to recruit NMFs, but having great PR says something for a school. He got the impression that they do take care of their NMS--even AFTER you sign up. What else? Good food? H: "Everyone just seemed so darn happy to be there." People seemed very friendly. (H did mention the cute girls. . .lol--he hasn't been on a college campus in awhile. . .)</p>

<p>I want to mention that the NM scholarship at OU does not completely cover everything. I called last week to see what it DOESN'T cover:
We (out of state) would have to pay about $250 per semester for housing, and about $600 per semester for tuition (varies by number of credit hours--approximately $100/credit hour, and the scholarship is only $1000/semester). Also, some classes might have lab or materials fees, and of course you need textbooks. . .so it would cost about $2000 a year for us. </p>

<p>If you/NMFF visit, they will pay for hotel--one night.</p>

<p>My son is a NMF from Florida. So far has been accepted to UNC-CH, WashU, Rice, Tulane, Florida. Waiting to hear from Duke, W&M, UVA and Emory.</p>

<p>Florida and Tulane are only schools that have offered any significant merit aid (we don't qualify for any need based aid). Son would love to go to UNC, WashU or Emory but without any merit aid they are just don't make any financial sense. I think he is now made his decision to attend the honors college at UF and take advantage of all the opportunities they have to offer.</p>

<p>kklicker, glad to hear your son will probably choose honors at UF. my daughter will be attending also and it is reassuring to hear there will be other students who could or have gotten in to more "prestigious" schools but will be attending UF. Daughter's stats: 2280 SAT, 4.45 GPA weighted, NMF, etc. Do you know of others at your son's school who will be attending and have similar stats?</p>

<p>arilmada: </p>

<p>Congrats to your DD! :)</p>

<p>bumping this thread.</p>

<p>My son will be attending USoCal as a NMF. They awarded him 1/2 tuition for 4 years, contingent on him maintaining 3.0 GPA. He is also eligible for money for the School of Engineering--we hope he may get it, but otherwise we can handle the other 1/2 tuition + room, board & other expenses. Like all NMFs, he was eligible for full-ride at several schools but really preferred USC. He was also offered 1/2 tuition + $2000 at Santa Clara U & accepted at Boston U with no money (needed to list them as 1st choice by 2/1).
His SAT was 2230 & weighted GPA was 3.7, Eagle Scout & OK ECs. He has taken LOTS of APs & gotten 5s & one 4. Interested in engineering.</p>

<p>My son just learned that he is a 2007 National Merit Scholar. He is not a particularly motivated student. He attends a college prep school. He excels in his courses that he enjoys and is lazy in the others. He plans to attend a LAC. His GPA is 3.0. He scored a 2160 on the new SAT. He is not looking at Ivy's or top tiered schools because of his GPA. I'm not familiar with the impact of being a National Merit Scholar. Are there advantages in the admissions process for commended students with poor GPA's?</p>

<p>Any advice would be helpful.</p>

<p>oops no wonder he didn't do well in math. He got a 2260 on the SAT.</p>