noreally

If anyone was awarded a merit scholarship of some sort to Chicago in the past, please post your Stats here. Thanks

idad

The merit awards at Chicago are awarded by a faculty committee which evaluates each applicant against a range of criteria. I'm not sure stats will tell one much. About 100 $10,000 awards and 10 full tuition awards (with another small batch reserved for the City of Chicago) are awarded each year. Not too many when one considers how many students are admitted.

Seashore

I agree, stats are not relevant. Don't count on one. Be really happy if you get one.

heinochus

From previous posts here, it seems like the merit awards are kind of hard to predict - i.e. they don't necessarily go to the amazing applicants with research and leadership and sports and val status, etc. Anyone want to comment on this?

emyla

I'm a recipient of a merit scholarship. It's not something generally talked about once received, and I do not know of anyone else who has one. So I can't say much in a general sense. But I think that they choose their merit scholarships like they choose their applicants; they must have something unique about them that sets them apart, and statistics do not matter as much ["as much" being the key phrase; they DO still matter].

Not sure about the whole stats game now; mine seemed decent but nothing exceptional like some people on this website. However, I did send in an additional supplement which is what I think was largely responsible for my scholarship. In my case it was a writing portfolio of various pieces I had done throughout high school. I think if you show that you have something extra you're much more likely to get one.

But like someone said above, if you get one, be happy, and if not, don't worry too much about it; chances are you won't due to sheer statistics.

CountingDown

S1 got a merit award. The traditional story here has been that a faculty committee recommends the candidates and chooses for those they'd most like to teach. I know of two others who got merit awards and they each had some unusual things which they brought to the university. As to whether that made the difference vs. test scores/grades, I have no idea.

One thing I will suggest: if you are accepted EA and subsequently win some interesting awards or recognition, let your regional rep know.

JHS

I know a few people who received merit awards, both in real life and via CC. Some had high grades and test scores, some had relatively low grades and test scores. Some may well have looked like top all-around students who maybe could be lured away from HYPS with some money (and in some cases that's just what happened). Others were people who couldn't have gotten out of a "Chances" thread alive, but who had some special something about them intellectually. And in-between, too.

noreally

Thanks, guys.

brownman777

i didnt know they did that. i heard they werent very generous when it came to financial aid.

motion12345

Could I still send in some sort of writing portfolio? I didn't know that was a possibility...I only fit a short 100 word thing in the supplemental part of the common app because that's all I thought was allowed.

J'adoube

I think the supplemental essays were sent after EA acceptance, not with your regular application. Brownman, Merit Scholarship is not FA (and as far as I know, will be deducted from your FA if you qualify for any).

UChicagoPSAC

Merit scholarships from Chicago can be used to cover any portion of the costs not already covered by financial aid- so, you may choose to eliminate loans if you have any, or decrease the parent contribution by $10k/yr, etc. The only situation in which your aid would be decreased from a Chicago merit scholarship is if you do not have a $10k gap anywhere in your tuition/room and board- so, if you already receive 100% of costs covered by Chicago, you won't simply get a check for $10k/yr. 4-yr guaranteed outside merit scholarships can decrease financial aid, but not those from Chicago.

For the record, I also have a merit scholarship (I used to post as Gracello before I got the job as College Rep, so some of you may know this already). I had good but not perfect stats and grades, some significant ECs, and wrote (what I thought were) creative essays. My sister, who applied last year, had slightly lower scores and grades but some amazing EC work in a completely different field, also got a merit scholarship, but declined it to attend a different school- besides being related we're about as different as can be, and it just goes to show how much of a toss-up merit scholarships can be. There's no grades/scores/ECs/other hooks recipe for merit scholarships here- the people I've met with them are all quite different from me, and still manage to make quite an impact on Chicago. Just make sure to check that box on the application, and wait from there!

motion12345

Can I still submit a writing portfolio

UChicagoPSAC

If you have already submitted your application for EA, no. If you are applying RD, yes.