We’ve got a Comet in the house!! DD is excitedly headed to UTD and the CV honors program! Her NM corporate scholarship will stack there and make it a full ride!
Congratulations, @momcatof4 !
S19 going to Bowdoin. We were never in the hunt for big merit and he’s really a better fit for an LAC for a bunch of reasons. $2000 NMF scholarship per year from Bowdoin. At least it’s something!
I hear you homerdog. DS going to Tufts and getting $500 a year.
@momcatof4 , congratulations! What is your daughter majoring in at UT Dallas? And what part of the country are you from?
@TXRunningMom She will enter as a physics major, but might change to Mech E. We are from the Houston area, so close-ish (3.5 hours) ? Though most of her AP friends are going into Engineering at A&M and UT, she wanted a less football-centric campus!
@tabbychiro -We hope to see you there!! D is signed up for orange comet camp and we all are attending CV orientation in August! Whoosh!!
@pcazcp -will your daughter attend UTD?
Questions for those that have completed this process and will be attending on NMF scholarships: 1) Did you apply before or after being named a NMSF? 2) is the NMF scholarship at your chosen school automatic or competitive (or something in between)? 3) Was an application separate from admission required for any part of your school award? (Other than NMF application to NMSC) 4) When did you visit: After being named NMSF, junior year, after acceptance, special NMF event, etc?
Moderator: If this should be a separate thread, please move. I am trying to target those with recent info so chose to ask here.
TIA!
First, congrats to everybody!
@Cheeringsection, since you know whether you are a NMSF fairly early in the application process, I would wait until then. If there is a reason to apply earlier, maybe like Texas A&M that used to fill spots on a first applied type of basis, I would apply early and then update later.
2) Most of the schools that offer the large NMF scholarships, the scholarship is automatic. This includes UTD, TTU, UA, UNT, the public universities of Florida, and I am leaving many out. At USC, admission is very competitive. Some schools do state they have a limited number of scholarships so those would be competitive, so if you are interested in a school - check. But mostly, if you make NMF, the scholarship is applied.
3) At the schools that I know of, there was not a separate application from admissions for NMF scholarship. There could be a separate application or showing of interest for Honors. UTD requires that, other schools just use admission application.
4) We visited many of our schools in the summer between Junior and Senior year. We did do the honors tour if available, like at ASU Barrett. We narrowed the search down and once NMSF results were announced, we did NM tours with the couple we were still interested in.
My D15 is on the half-tuition NMF scholarship at USC, and my S18 is on the full COA Benacquisto NMF scholarship at FSU.
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Did you apply before or after being named a NMSF? After
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is the NMF scholarship at your chosen school automatic or competitive (or something in between)? Admission is not automatic just bc NMF, but if admitted the scholarships were automatic at USC and FSU.
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Was an application separate from admission required for any part of your school award? (Other than NMF application to NMSC) -USC had an early deadline to apply for scholarship consideration. FSU did not.
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When did you visit: After being named NMSF, junior year, after acceptance, special NMF event, etc? No special NMF event at USC or FSU. Visited junior year when knew would be NMSF.
I believe my son applied to UTD and UCF when he knew he was NMSF. He probably would not have applied to UCF otherwise. We visited UCF when they had an NMSF event in the fall (Director’s Forum). They have a spring event also but we didn’t go to that. For UCF admission to the Burnett Honors is a sure thing for NMFs BUT a separate application is still required. I was quite surprised to learn that the application is on paper and they mail it to you and you need to mail it back. We visited UTD in February for one of the NM preview days. NMFs at UTD are admitted to the honors program if they send an email requesting it
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Did you apply before or after being named a NMSF?
Most applications went in right after finding out NMSF status. -
is the NMF scholarship at your chosen school automatic or competitive (or something in between)?
Automatic. -
Was an application separate from admission required for any part of your school award? (Other than NMF application to NMSC)
No. -
When did you visit: After being named NMSF, junior year, after acceptance, special NMF event, etc?
Visited whenever it fit in: spring junior year, Fall senior year, and Feb of senior year. Revisited one school in March senior year. Went to UCF’s NMSF event in the fall.
Found that memories of the junior year visit were fuzzy so a revisit at the same time as a scholarship competition was a good idea. This was a non-auto NMF scholarship school. It helped clarify decision about that school.
Good luck!
My son decided to go to UF and will be taking Computer Engineering. He had some very good schools to choose from. but in the end, the Benacquisto scholarship at UF stood out from the rest of the pack! Good luck and congratulations to everybody!!
@DesertCactusDad Congratulations on the decision! DD most certainly would have chosen a school in FL if she did not receive the NM corporate scholarship from State Farm. It will cover the small gap in housing/meals/books at UTD!!
Mine also chose UF over some other great schools (he got in everywhere he applied, including the one Ivy he was interested in), but the Benacquisto is just too good to pass up and he really loved UF, so he chose it not just for $$, but because he really feels he can be happy and successful there. Congratulations to all! 
@momcatof4 - yes we too have a comet in house she settled on UTD … we hope to see you at orientation
Daughter committed to Fordham Lincoln Center with full tuition NMSF Scholarship and she can also accept her $2500 NMS award as well because it is not tuition only and can be applied to other educational expenses. Fordhams NMSF full tuition is not automatic but does not require separate application - website says have to A to A- average and be within top 2-3% of admitted students. We visited before NMSF announced but knew she was likely to make the cutoff and visited again after she was accepted.
DS decided on UChicago which gives $2,500 for NMF. After much discussion we decided that it was really the perfect place for him, and we are fortunate to have been able to save for college so that $ wasn’t the primary focus. DD is NMF 2016 and has been remarkably happy at Davidson which gives her $15,000/year for her NMF status.