Does anyone have any information on merit scholarships from Chicago? Is there any kind of automatic scholarship for NMF? or do only some of the NMF get scholarships and are they differing amounts? I think I saw that Chicago awards 60, but I assume that there are more than 60 NMF in the incoming class.
Hello, I can speak to National Merit Scholarship only, and only from last year (class of '22). My son was selected by the CB as a National Merit winner (obviously he was a finalist and a semi-finalist). UChicago didn’t have an auto winner award and he only received the standard one time amount from College Board. Last years class was the first year for this and previously it was different. So, my son called Financial Aid and asked “isn’t there an auto award?” He was told not anymore, but the fact that you won a National Merit Scholarship it would be a factor that is considered for other merit awards. He applied ED1 and was accepted ED1 and did not get any merit from UChicago. This was for the class of '22 and it is an area that is a place there has been some big change in this space.
We got similar info last year, and DD only received the one time $2,500 from NMSC - no more NM awards from the university. She did, however, receive a merit scholarship from UChicago, but she was EA, not ED.
Thanks!
@catmomof3 My D in the Class of 2022 rec’d a $2000 National Merit Scholarship renewable for each of her 4 years directly from UChicago. She was admitted regular decision but had put UChicago down as her first choice on the NMF selection form.
@KnightsRidge was your daughter a merit scholar or a finalist? Looks like the 2 above were scholars cand got money from NMSC. I imagine it is the EA and RD that makes most difference though.
@catmomof3 Finalist. The following language was from the press release issued by her school system: “__ students have been named winners of 2018 Merit Scholarship awards by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation…part of a group of more than 3,500 National Merit® finalists chosen to receive scholarships financed by higher education institutions.”
Winners aren’t announced publicly until May.
A bit of history:
Beginning with the Class of '21, they started curtailing back the NMF monies. Prior to that class, UChicago provided a guaranteed $4,000/yr award for at least several years beginning in the early 00’s. Whatever NMSC didn’t provide, UChicago would make up the difference. The Class of '21 was the first ED1/ED2 admitted class, and - no surprise! - a LOT of NMF’s were admitted binding. However, they had changed the merit policy (mid-stream, as it turned out) so that at best ED NMF’s were given no more than the $2,000/yr college-sponsored amount. It’s quite possible that EA NMF’s were given more - can’t recall. The following year, as @BrianBoiler and others have posted, they really pivoted away from the NMF college-sponsored award, especially for the large number of ED’s coming in (some non-binding admits are still able to obtain them, apparently). While this is a tad frustrating, it makes perfect sense when you consider what UChicago is trying to accomplish with stuff like Empower. Also, at this point, they naturally attract quite a few NMF’s who are there for more than the $2,000-$4,000/yr. discount. Finally, it’s unrealistic to expect an automatic award from anywhere when you apply ED, unless the school has specifically clarified that you are eligible under that admission plan.
And that’s the real problem as I see it - UChicago could do a MUCH better job in communicating at the START of the application season what will or will not be available automatically, who is eligible/which plan, and so forth. It’s not just NMF - some of these automatic awards are getting pretty big! Many families still choose admission plans by how much they are willing to pay, so it’s just plain common sense - and plain courtesy - to post these kinds of disclosures so that there are no misunderstandings once admitted.
Merit and need-based have been moving targets at UChicago just like the admit rate and the class size. It’s an exhilarating ride, but they need to post a better WARNING sign before you hop on board!
If you get picked by National Merit Foundation as a scholar then UChicago doesn’t give you their National merit scholarship.
It’s reserved for applicants who can’t make scholar on their own, UChicago’s small scholarship makes them scholar.
This way school can claim high number of scholars and students(& families) feel flattered and often pick UChicago over schools offering no merit scholarships.
@Riversider that is not how it works. National Merit has 3 types of scholarships. College sponsored, corporate sponsored and the 2,500 offered from National Merit Corp ( usually reserved for those who don’t go to sponsor schools o get corporate awards) you can only accept one. The one offered by National Merit is a 1 time 2,500 award. The school based from Chicago is typically 2,500 per year. Which one would you take!! Ha! Don’t comment on things when you don’t know what you are talking about!!
^ @catmomof3’s post is inaccurate. National Merit Corporation scholarships are NOT reserved for those who don’t go to sponsor schools. The National Merit Corporation one-time $2500 scholarships are awarded before University of Chicago awards its NM scholarships. In the past, Chicago gave out extra merit scholarships that would make a student who received the more prestigious NMC scholarships whole in relation to whatever NM merit scholarship Chicago itself was giving. For example, if Chicago was giving $2000 per year NM scholarship, and a student got the NMC one-time $2500 scholarship, then Chicago would give the student $2000 merit scholarship each year minus the $2500 NMC scholarship. This made sense, in a way; why should more competitive students receiving the more prestigious NMC lose $5500 in merit aid? (This is how many, but not all, colleges that give NM scholarships do things.) I can’t speak to Chicago’s policy this year, but I imagine @Riversider is right about the facts and the reason behind them.
@catmomof3 We are discussing college admissions and merit scholarships, things don’t always make sense.
@JBStillFlying ??? I had a National Merit Scholar at the University of Chicago in the mid-00s, and she never got $4,000/year. She did get $2,000/year.
Yes, NMFs from class of '20 got $4,000 per year scholarship - labeled either NM scholarship from Chicago or other merit scholarship from Chicago. The $4,000 per year scholarship from Chicago was offset by any other NM scholarship (NMC $2500 one-time scholarship or corporation scholarship). That may have been the case for class of '19 too. Chicago changed the policy for class of '21 kids after those kids, had committed to Chicago; one of the ways they changed it was to lower the scholarship to $2,000 a year.
I think the $4k a year started after your kids, @JHS. Might have started a bit after Nondorf got there. And then obviously everything changed again once they switched to ED.
But no matter, you can only get 1 National Merit scholarship. Either Corporate sponsored, , college sponsored or merit corporation. But National merit chooses who gets them. Not the school If school sponsored, you have to have the school you are going to attend listed as your first choice school. There are many rules that are clearly stated in the scholarship materials.
The college chooses its college-sponsored National Merit Scholars.
Yes, the college picks the winners, but National Merit notifies them which students had put the sponsor college as their first choice. University of Chicago gives every national finalist a scholarship as long as they have not taken a NM corporate scholarship or the National Merit Corporation scholarship. You can only get one of the 3. And you have to have selected Chicago as first choice school.
^ I think, as well, that the student has no say in which one of the three NM scholarships he/she receives? Could be incorrect on that. Also, other parents at other schools have told me that’s not always the case. For instance, one USC parent has mentioned that if you are admitted to USC after getting the one-time $2500, USC arranges your scholarship to switch to the college-sponsored. That can’t be the case at UChicago, since at least one student last year received the $2500 only. However that student was ED (and specified UChicago as first choice) so maybe last year it just depended on which admission plan you were admitted under. It does appear anecdotally that they are being more generous with the ED this year than last year? Not sure.