Hi Canes! My son is a junior in high school with a 1560 SAT, 4.6 GPA, captain of varsity football, volunteering and job experience. We are hoping for a full ride; any thoughts on whether my having graduated from UM would be considered a hook? Does our geography matter? (West Coast). Thank you!
can’t say about legacy helping or not, but I do believe geography matters when it comes to aid. Not sure what effect your specific geography would have, but Miami seems to offer aid to more students in geographic areas that they want to attract more applicants from.
It seems UM considers legacy for admissions, but the scholarships are merit-based. Your son would appear to be a strong candidate, though.
While alumni/are relation is considered in their application/admission process, it is unlikely to be considered in the elite scholarship process.
@sherimba03 There aren’t a lot of merit full ride scholarships given out by UM. They are working towards meeting 100% “demonstrate financial need” from what one admissions person told me last year. My daughter was accepted EA last year and is a freshman at UM this year. She had a one test 1540 SAT score. Her GPA was a 4.54 with lots of AP’s. dual enrollment. Captain of the swim team 4 years. President of the business club. Lots of extracurriculars, clubs, awards etc. She ended up with a Singer Scholarship. I don’t believe legacy plays a big part in admissions. Your geography may help. You may want to check out the housing costs especially after freshman year if you want your child to stay on campus after freshman year.
@Nic00 congrats on your DD’s Singer Scholarship! I would definitely encourage DS21 to stay on campus, especially with the new housing village being built in the location of my old Residential College towers. Can you speak to NMF at all? Is DD also a Benacquisto from NMF or does she know anyone?
I seem to recall seeing some people upset about the new dorms doubling the cost of room and board. Maybe that’s what Nic00 was implying?
@chmcnm is correct, the prices for the new Lakeside village dorms is much much higher than the dorm costs were previously. This will significanly increase cost of attendance if living on campus, otherwise living off campus also adds it’s own extra costs: Furniture, electricity, transportation, etc. With the new dorms the cost of attendance has risen sharply.
My S20 has applied to Miami. Our friend’s daughter is a junior there. She mentioned that the cost is going way up next year and people aren’t happy. YMMV.
@chmcnm Correct, there has been a lenthgy discussion amongst parents about the sharp increase in dorm costs with the new dorms and many are very unhappy and feel like they were misled
@sherimba03 I’m sorry I just saw your question. No I can’t speak to the NMF question. Did your son receive an email to submit an essay? They seem to have done the premier scholarship selection differently the last couple years.
@Nic00 DS21 is a junior so has not yet submitted applications; that is however just around the corner!
Sorry to hijack but this page seems rather quiet! My daughter applied EA and got an email that she was a finalist for signature scholarships (something like that) and needs to submit an extra essay by Jan 5th. Anyone know anything about the likelihood of getting one of these scholarships? Thanks!
There was a post from a sophomore Mom indicating the dorm cost essentially doubles for 2nd-4th years. It shocked her because there wasn’t any additional aid offered… added $10,000/year student loan debt to cover the additional cost of housing.
Makes you wonder… is UM worth the cost?
I believe that students who don’t want to live in the new campus village housing do have lots of other options…so the $10k/year increase probably isn’t mandatory? Personally I do not believe that any college is worth north of $250k for four years…but that’s just my personal viewpoint based on my own personal situation. Everyone is different.