<p>mmmgirl, the link I gave above answers your question regarding applications. In most cases a careful reading of a school’s website will provide a great deal of information.</p>
<p>I don’t think anyone here can give you much help on how competitive the merit awards are, since we only know about our own experiences. I can tell you that my D, now a senior, got a Dean’s award which I believe (though can’t prove) was based on her high SAT scores. (She was also admitted to the Honors program, though I have heard of kids who got into Honors with no merit awards and got merit awards without getting into Honors.) In any case, my info is kind of stale at this point–the amount of the Dean’s award has been reduced since she received it, and the criteria may well have evolved as well.</p>