<p>Wow. Seems like the people listed who got these scholarships also went to the best schools in the country. That’s interesting. I know my high GPA doesn’t mean much compared to theirs, but I think people from worse schools who do not have scientists in their families usually have to work harder to find out about research, math competitions, math classes beyond calculus etc (well, I’d never even heard of academic research until I met a professor in ninth grade, though since then I’ve done some research; math competitions weren’t offered at my school - I heard about them from friends who go to MUCH RICHER schools and started them at my school, though nobody has qualified for AIME yet…). So… I don’t know. That definition of “merit” seems very elitist, no? All of the best high schools that I know of are in VERY RICH cities, or cost a lot of money, except Boston Latin. Maybe this is not true in other areas of the country, though I suspect it is. Does Caltech ever give merit scholarship to people who did NOT go to a top school or come from a particularly rich background, but who had amazing stats (perhaps taken in context) just the same? (Not that I think I’d ever qualify; I’m just curious as to whether this has ever happened)</p>