Anonymous
12/23/2024 17:31
Subject: Colleges enrolling the most National Merit Scholarship winners
Crazy that colleges are devaluing merit over being poor.
Anonymous
12/23/2024 17:21
Subject: Colleges enrolling the most National Merit Scholarship winners
USC cutting its award from half tuition to $20k
https://morningtrojan.com/p/usc-cuts-national-merit-finalist-scholarship
USC will dramatically reduce a merit scholarship it offers for students who earned elite scores on their high school PSAT exams.
Those students, known as National Merit Finalists, have historically enjoyed half-tuition scholarships — $34,952 this year, according to financial aid documents viewed by Morning, Trojan.
That number is now $20,000.
Students who currently receive the scholarship will not be affected by the roughly 43% reduction, a university spokesperson said.
Still, the cuts will no doubt factor into the college decisions of some of the nation’s highest-performing high school students as the peak of the admissions season approaches.
“The university is diverting more financial support to incoming students with demonstrated need,” the university wrote in a statement. “The new award amount, $20,000 per year, remains one of the largest financial stipends offered to National Merit Finalists by our peers in higher education.”
USC is yet to formally announce the cut. The only reference to the reduction is a document on the school’s undergraduate admissions page, dated December 19, that lists the new value.
https://issuu.com/esdwebm/docs/scholarship_grid_issuu_
https://morningtrojan.com/p/usc-cuts-national-merit-finalist-scholarship
USC will dramatically reduce a merit scholarship it offers for students who earned elite scores on their high school PSAT exams.
Those students, known as National Merit Finalists, have historically enjoyed half-tuition scholarships — $34,952 this year, according to financial aid documents viewed by Morning, Trojan.
That number is now $20,000.
Students who currently receive the scholarship will not be affected by the roughly 43% reduction, a university spokesperson said.
Still, the cuts will no doubt factor into the college decisions of some of the nation’s highest-performing high school students as the peak of the admissions season approaches.
“The university is diverting more financial support to incoming students with demonstrated need,” the university wrote in a statement. “The new award amount, $20,000 per year, remains one of the largest financial stipends offered to National Merit Finalists by our peers in higher education.”
USC is yet to formally announce the cut. The only reference to the reduction is a document on the school’s undergraduate admissions page, dated December 19, that lists the new value.
https://issuu.com/esdwebm/docs/scholarship_grid_issuu_
Anonymous
12/18/2024 12:46
Subject: Colleges enrolling the most National Merit Scholarship winners
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:35 at UVA seems low.
Some states have considerably lower criteria for NMS -- VA, MD, DC always have very high bars--within the top 5.
+1 This.
Some schools sponsor winners. You need to factor that.
List of # of NMS in college not sponsoring - NMS are mostly sponsored by college board ($2500). It is an indication of student quality to some degree.
1.(9) MIT 154 [1,136 Freshmen, 13.5%]
2. (8) Harvard 160 [1,644 Freshmen, 9.7%]
3. (13) Yale 127 [1,554 Freshmen, 8%]
4. (14) Princeton 116 [1,497 Freshmen, 7.7%]
5. (12) Stanford 129 [1,733 Freshmen, 7.4%]
6. (10) Penn 147 [2,415 Freshmen, 6%]
7. (16) Duke 94 [1,744 Freshmen, 5.3%]
8. (27) Columbia 75 [1,522 Freshmen, 4.9%]
9. (41) Dartmouth 49 [1,124 Freshmen, 4.4%]
10. (40) Rice 51 [1,201 Freshmen, 4.3%]
11. (29) Brown 69 [1,717 Freshmen, 4%]
12. (28) Northwestern 75 [2,038 Freshmen, 3.7%]
13. (37) Georgetown 56 [1,603 Freshmen, 3.5%]
14. (43) Johns Hopkins 48 [1,406 Freshmen 3.4%]
15. (45) Carnegie Mellon 47 [1,716 Freshmen, 2.7%]
16. (18) Georgia Tech 90 [3,646 Freshmen, 2.5%]
17. (44) UChicago 48 [2,053 Freshmen, 2.3%]
18. (39) Cornell 54 [3,491 Freshmen, 1.5%]
19. (17) UC Berkeley 93 [6,707 Freshmen, 1.4%]
20. (24) UCLA 77 [6,461 Freshmen, 1.2%]
21. (26) Michigan 76 [7,050 Freshmen, 1%]
22. (20) UT Austin 85 [9,109 Freshmen, .9%]
23. (55) UVA 35 [4,020 Freshmen, .9%]
24. (51) UNC 40 [4,689 Freshmen, .8%]
25. (48) NYU 44 [6,184 Freshmen, .7%]
26. (52) Illinois 39 [8,297 Freshmen, .5%]
You took schools like Vanderbilt off the list -- I'd hardly call $6k per year off a $100k per year price tag "sponsoring".
Anonymous
12/17/2024 21:17
Subject: Colleges enrolling the most National Merit Scholarship winners
CalTech has something like 10% of its student body NMF winners.
Anonymous
12/17/2024 21:15
Subject: Colleges enrolling the most National Merit Scholarship winners
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:As the parent of a National Merit Scholarship finalist, my opinion is this is an utterly meaningless metric, other than singling out some of the schools that are willing to buy the attendance of some kids based on a PSAT score from Fall of junior year, factoring in what state they live in (since the selection index varies widely by state)
I am also the parent of a NMF. My kid got into one of the top (percentage wise) schools on the list. But instead attends a school that “bought” my kids attendance (what a rude comment). Most of the NMF kids my kid goes to school with also got into an ivy or T15 — however, like our family, determined that $350k+ was far too much to pay for undergrad degree.
It would be very interesting to see the family income breakdown among NMF at these schools. I’d bet there’s a clear pattern …
+1000
Anonymous
12/17/2024 20:55
Subject: Colleges enrolling the most National Merit Scholarship winners
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:35 at UVA seems low.
Some states have considerably lower criteria for NMS -- VA, MD, DC always have very high bars--within the top 5.
+1 This.
Some schools sponsor winners. You need to factor that.
List of # of NMS in college not sponsoring - NMS are mostly sponsored by college board ($2500). It is an indication of student quality to some degree.
1.(9) MIT 154 [1,136 Freshmen, 13.5%]
2. (8) Harvard 160 [1,644 Freshmen, 9.7%]
3. (13) Yale 127 [1,554 Freshmen, 8%]
4. (14) Princeton 116 [1,497 Freshmen, 7.7%]
5. (12) Stanford 129 [1,733 Freshmen, 7.4%]
6. (10) Penn 147 [2,415 Freshmen, 6%]
7. (16) Duke 94 [1,744 Freshmen, 5.3%]
8. (27) Columbia 75 [1,522 Freshmen, 4.9%]
9. (41) Dartmouth 49 [1,124 Freshmen, 4.4%]
10. (40) Rice 51 [1,201 Freshmen, 4.3%]
11. (29) Brown 69 [1,717 Freshmen, 4%]
12. (28) Northwestern 75 [2,038 Freshmen, 3.7%]
13. (37) Georgetown 56 [1,603 Freshmen, 3.5%]
14. (43) Johns Hopkins 48 [1,406 Freshmen 3.4%]
15. (45) Carnegie Mellon 47 [1,716 Freshmen, 2.7%]
16. (18) Georgia Tech 90 [3,646 Freshmen, 2.5%]
17. (44) UChicago 48 [2,053 Freshmen, 2.3%]
18. (39) Cornell 54 [3,491 Freshmen, 1.5%]
19. (17) UC Berkeley 93 [6,707 Freshmen, 1.4%]
20. (24) UCLA 77 [6,461 Freshmen, 1.2%]
21. (26) Michigan 76 [7,050 Freshmen, 1%]
22. (20) UT Austin 85 [9,109 Freshmen, .9%]
23. (55) UVA 35 [4,020 Freshmen, .9%]
24. (51) UNC 40 [4,689 Freshmen, .8%]
25. (48) NYU 44 [6,184 Freshmen, .7%]
26. (52) Illinois 39 [8,297 Freshmen, .5%]
Percentage is a better indicator of quality. I suspect a number of smaller schools with higher percentages are not shown above.
e.g. Caltech
Anonymous
12/17/2024 20:29
Subject: Colleges enrolling the most National Merit Scholarship winners
Where's the University of Georgia? I would think that they would be fairly high on the list.
Anonymous
12/17/2024 20:06
Subject: Colleges enrolling the most National Merit Scholarship winners
Anonymous wrote:As the parent of a National Merit Scholarship finalist, my opinion is this is an utterly meaningless metric, other than singling out some of the schools that are willing to buy the attendance of some kids based on a PSAT score from Fall of junior year, factoring in what state they live in (since the selection index varies widely by state)
I am also the parent of a NMF. My kid got into one of the top (percentage wise) schools on the list. But instead attends a school that “bought” my kids attendance (what a rude comment). Most of the NMF kids my kid goes to school with also got into an ivy or T15 — however, like our family, determined that $350k+ was far too much to pay for undergrad degree.
It would be very interesting to see the family income breakdown among NMF at these schools. I’d bet there’s a clear pattern …
Anonymous
12/17/2024 19:45
Subject: Colleges enrolling the most National Merit Scholarship winners
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:35 at UVA seems low.
Some states have considerably lower criteria for NMS -- VA, MD, DC always have very high bars--within the top 5.
+1 This.
Some schools sponsor winners. You need to factor that.
List of # of NMS in college not sponsoring - NMS are mostly sponsored by college board ($2500). It is an indication of student quality to some degree.
1.(9) MIT 154 [1,136 Freshmen, 13.5%]
2. (8) Harvard 160 [1,644 Freshmen, 9.7%]
3. (13) Yale 127 [1,554 Freshmen, 8%]
4. (14) Princeton 116 [1,497 Freshmen, 7.7%]
5. (12) Stanford 129 [1,733 Freshmen, 7.4%]
6. (10) Penn 147 [2,415 Freshmen, 6%]
7. (16) Duke 94 [1,744 Freshmen, 5.3%]
8. (27) Columbia 75 [1,522 Freshmen, 4.9%]
9. (41) Dartmouth 49 [1,124 Freshmen, 4.4%]
10. (40) Rice 51 [1,201 Freshmen, 4.3%]
11. (29) Brown 69 [1,717 Freshmen, 4%]
12. (28) Northwestern 75 [2,038 Freshmen, 3.7%]
13. (37) Georgetown 56 [1,603 Freshmen, 3.5%]
14. (43) Johns Hopkins 48 [1,406 Freshmen 3.4%]
15. (45) Carnegie Mellon 47 [1,716 Freshmen, 2.7%]
16. (18) Georgia Tech 90 [3,646 Freshmen, 2.5%]
17. (44) UChicago 48 [2,053 Freshmen, 2.3%]
18. (39) Cornell 54 [3,491 Freshmen, 1.5%]
19. (17) UC Berkeley 93 [6,707 Freshmen, 1.4%]
20. (24) UCLA 77 [6,461 Freshmen, 1.2%]
21. (26) Michigan 76 [7,050 Freshmen, 1%]
22. (20) UT Austin 85 [9,109 Freshmen, .9%]
23. (55) UVA 35 [4,020 Freshmen, .9%]
24. (51) UNC 40 [4,689 Freshmen, .8%]
25. (48) NYU 44 [6,184 Freshmen, .7%]
26. (52) Illinois 39 [8,297 Freshmen, .5%]
Percentage is a better indicator of quality. I suspect a number of smaller schools with higher percentages are not shown above.
Anonymous
12/17/2024 17:09
Subject: Colleges enrolling the most National Merit Scholarship winners
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:35 at UVA seems low.
Some states have considerably lower criteria for NMS -- VA, MD, DC always have very high bars--within the top 5.
+1 This.
Some schools sponsor winners. You need to factor that.
List of # of NMS in college not sponsoring - NMS are mostly sponsored by college board ($2500). It is an indication of student quality to some degree.
1.(9) MIT 154 [1,136 Freshmen, 13.5%]
2. (8) Harvard 160 [1,644 Freshmen, 9.7%]
3. (13) Yale 127 [1,554 Freshmen, 8%]
4. (14) Princeton 116 [1,497 Freshmen, 7.7%]
5. (12) Stanford 129 [1,733 Freshmen, 7.4%]
6. (10) Penn 147 [2,415 Freshmen, 6%]
7. (16) Duke 94 [1,744 Freshmen, 5.3%]
8. (27) Columbia 75 [1,522 Freshmen, 4.9%]
9. (41) Dartmouth 49 [1,124 Freshmen, 4.4%]
10. (40) Rice 51 [1,201 Freshmen, 4.3%]
11. (29) Brown 69 [1,717 Freshmen, 4%]
12. (28) Northwestern 75 [2,038 Freshmen, 3.7%]
13. (37) Georgetown 56 [1,603 Freshmen, 3.5%]
14. (43) Johns Hopkins 48 [1,406 Freshmen 3.4%]
15. (45) Carnegie Mellon 47 [1,716 Freshmen, 2.7%]
16. (18) Georgia Tech 90 [3,646 Freshmen, 2.5%]
17. (44) UChicago 48 [2,053 Freshmen, 2.3%]
18. (39) Cornell 54 [3,491 Freshmen, 1.5%]
19. (17) UC Berkeley 93 [6,707 Freshmen, 1.4%]
20. (24) UCLA 77 [6,461 Freshmen, 1.2%]
21. (26) Michigan 76 [7,050 Freshmen, 1%]
22. (20) UT Austin 85 [9,109 Freshmen, .9%]
23. (55) UVA 35 [4,020 Freshmen, .9%]
24. (51) UNC 40 [4,689 Freshmen, .8%]
25. (48) NYU 44 [6,184 Freshmen, .7%]
26. (52) Illinois 39 [8,297 Freshmen, .5%]
Anonymous
12/17/2024 14:19
Subject: Colleges enrolling the most National Merit Scholarship winners
Anonymous wrote:Who cares about PSAT scores in junior year of high school?
Those of us taking full rides or other competitive merit offers. My kid got a selection score index of 224. He followed up with a 1500 SAT and 4.3 GPA. He can choose to go to college for free.
Anonymous
12/17/2024 14:11
Subject: Colleges enrolling the most National Merit Scholarship winners
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:35 at UVA seems low.
Yeah. Dammmmmn!
UVA does not explicitly sponsor (provide scholarships) for National Merit Scholarship winners. Many schools do. UVA may indirectly give scholarships to winners through programs like the Jefferson Scholarship. You have to compare schools that don't provide specific NMSF scholarships to others that also don't.
Anonymous
12/17/2024 14:02
Subject: Colleges enrolling the most National Merit Scholarship winners
Anonymous wrote:Who cares about PSAT scores in junior year of high school?
Great marketing by College Board...all for results from a practice test.
Remember, cutoffs for NMSF vary by state. There are tons of kids locally who were not
NMSF but scored higher than many NMSFs from other states.