<p>Hey guys! I was just admitted into UChicago class of 2018! With the acceptance letter there was also a letter saying that I got their Merit Award. They said if I attended, I would be a President's Scholar. I was just wondering how competitive this scholarship is--like how many people get it. I want to have a feel for where I am in the application pool for regular decisions. On that note, I also got deferred by MIT.</p>
<p>My D got accepted as a university scholar. I think a president’s scholar is better than the university scholar. Your parent could be proud of you. Congratulations.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot. I worked my blood and soul into my application. If I had a couple more posts, I would be able to send a private message.</p>
<p>My D got $5,000 merit. Which scholarship is that? I don’t have access to her stuff at the moment.</p>
<p>^It’s the UChicago Merit Scholarship, see link:</p>
<p><a href=“https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/costs/merit.shtml[/url]”>https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/costs/merit.shtml</a></p>
<p>It comes in $5K, $10K, $15K amounts. It’s awarded on a “rolling” basis all the way up to the final day for deposits.</p>
<p>I don’t think they give that many; it’s probably a compliment to your D especially this early in the game. Congratulations.</p>
<p>The link didn’t show $5K, $10K, $15K amounts in the merit-scholarship section. Where did you get the amount info ?</p>
<p>Curious: how much is the president’s scholar award for?</p>
<p>^ “$5,000 for each of two summers to further your academic and intellectual pursuits during your career at the College.” </p>
<p>Doesn’t go directly towards tuition, but still a nice bonus.</p>
<p>@Mikee2014, in the merit award letter, did UChicago mention the scholarship name like university, dean’s, or president scholar ?</p>
<p>Yes, it said “President’s Scholar”</p>
<p>Mikee2014 - What you are describing is different than what I thought it was. So I’ve confused things. I was describing the UChicago Merit Scholarship. Follow the link I provided for more information on these scholarships. As far as the amounts, I don’t remember where I got the information! But I know it exists because my son got one and I’m very happy about that!</p>
<p>The $5000 for two summers is really wonderful also. Your daughter will be able to do a lot with those amounts. Best of luck to her.</p>
<p>Congrats with your scholarship! Meanwhile I’m fully planning on rolling in debts for a few years after college lol :)</p>
<p>I got the University Scholarship (10k a year) and even that plus my financial aid will leave me in some serious debt. My parents are both on the edge of retirement and both need lots of medical care so they can’t exactly use all of their retirement money on this. I don’t know what to do. :(</p>
<p>@mermaidgirl, did you get a unsubsidized loan in financial aid letter ? My daughter also got the university scholar but there is no financial aid except for a loan ($5.5K/yr). She got a couple of acceptance letters with full tuition or full ride from lower ranked colleges (Pittsburgh, Baylor and UT Dallas) expected more from other colleges.</p>
<p>mermaidgirl: I would write a letter to financial aid outlining the medical situations of your parents and the effects of that on available resources to pay for UChicago. The CSS form also has an area where you can talk about special circumstances.</p>
<p>What I’m saying is don’t give up yet. I don’t think UChicago wants its graduates entering the work force with mountains of debt. Write to financial aid and lay it all out honestly and clearly.</p>
<p>I’m a President’s Scholar for the class of 2017, and in late October we had a general information session in which I’d guess about 30 people attended. There’s a website called summerfunds.uchicago.edu with info about the program, but you can’t access it until accept the offer of admission and set up your CNet ID. If you want more info right now though, you can contact Sara Bosworth or Dan Moore in the Career Advancement office, they were the ones who led the meeting. :)</p>
<p>@Dad2013 yes I got a subsidized loan, unsubsidized loan, and grants (along with my merit aid). Perhaps I got luckier than I thought.
@kaukauna thank you, I will definitely do that. I’m waiting to here back from other schools first to see if they have better aid.</p>
<p>Great. My daughter only got unsubsidized loan and merit scholarship. You got quite generous financial aid from UChicago. Not sure if Ivies can beat the offer if you are accepted as RD.</p>
@ramboacid I just got the President’s Scholarship for the class of 2020, and it says I’m guaranteed $4,000 for two summers. Did you ever receive more scholarship money besides that?
@oxygenmagnesium In my year, the guarantee was $5000 for each of two summers. They may have reduced the award amount to be more in line with the stipend for Metcalf internships (which is $4000).
The President’s Scholarship is a great program and allows for flexibility in planning your summer opportunities, especially in the first year when it’s more difficult to find funded opportunities. However, in retrospect, I realize that I have only been able to use the award once (for the summer after my first year) since it’s not compatible with paid internship opportunities (Metcalf or otherwise) that one can get in their second and third summers. This of course varies with the field of interest - it’s easier to find funded opportunities for STEM, Econ, and some other majors than those pursuing humanities or other social science related opportunities - so YMMV. 