<p>What does it take to get a full ride in merit money at UChicago? Does anyone know someone who knows someone who got merit money?</p>
<p>“Full rides” are not offered in merit. There are indeed full-tuition scholarships for extremely well-qualified applicants, but that still leaves room and board to be paid.</p>
<p>Having said that, only a handful of full-tuition scholarships are given and you have to be seriously qualified; you have to stand out in the top 10% <em>of the top 1%</em> of the 25,000 student applicant pool (and these are the strongest students in the nation). Unless you have a serious reason to be offered a full-tuition scholarship, don’t expect one.</p>
<p>We live in Wi so we went down to U of C this summer for kicks. Nominal merit scholarships are available. They are needs blind admitter. As the director of admissions and financial aid said “we could kill the first 1500 admittees and the next 1500 would look the same” He was trying to say there is some luck involved. I ran into a father who’s son got a 36 on the SAT. That is who you would be up against for merit scholarships</p>
<p>I mistyped that is a 36 on the ACT</p>
<p>Getting the full-tuition scholarship to UChicago requires being selected by faculty members as someone who they would really, really, really like to teach. It is, as I understand, a very subjective process. It is based far more on your essays, recs, classes, and accomplishments than your grades or scores.</p>
<p>In other words, don’t plan on it. :P</p>
<p>A 15k, 10k, or 5k merit scholarship is much more realistic, though still extremely difficult to get. I’m sure there are many applicants who aren’t even accepted to UChicago with 36s on the ACT, let alone thrown some money. Submit the strongest app you can, remember to check the merit aid box, and hope for the best.</p>