I think the issue with the Alumni scholarship is that this year they invited a much larger number of applicants, but many still assumed the same high level of correlation with admission as for the more select group invited in prior years. It is unfortunate that there wasn’t clearer communication on this point, even though the invite did say it should not be regarded as implying admission.
However, it should be welcome that more people are being told about the scholarship, so that those who are not “in the know” don’t miss out on this opportunity (because the filtering by admissions has always been fairly crude and not well geared to the leadership characteristics sought by the ASC).
But you need to understand that the probability of winning the scholarship is always going to be in the low single digits (and you need some good leadership ECs as well as an excellent essay to succeed) when deciding whether to invest time in applying. My S thought it was worth applying, given his background (he won a scholarship) whereas most of his classmates didn’t bother.
In terms of the process, the essays must be submitted before results come out, because the interviewees have to be selected, the interviews conducted and the winners notified all before Bruin Day, when (in normal circumstances) there’s a reception hosted by the Alumni Scholars Club. Notification of interviews should now happen in the next week or less because interviews are in the first week of April and winners are then informed about a week before Bruin Day. If you get an interview then I believe there’s roughly a one in three chance of winning a scholarship. I don’t know if applicants who don’t get an interview will be notified individually.