Should my parents be the ones calling the fin aid office?
Yes. they will be asked to supply a copy of the award from UVA.
My advise is wait until you hear from all the colleges you applied to, then ask them to call.
I agree with @menloparkmom. I wouldn’t ask Chicago for merit aid yet unless they’re your top choice. Wait 'til Ivy Day and see what rolls in first.
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however, there is a large degree of self-segregation that happens on grounds. >>>\
Unfortunately, that happens at nearly every campus in the US. Certainly every campus has students who hang out with mixed race groupings, but most campuses have self-segregation going on. I’m not sure why you think UVA is somehow worse; I highly doubt it is.
@theleenbean ,if you are worried about not fitting in socially at UVA and are basing your decision on prestige only, you can also be excluded at HYP. We know an Asian from here who was unbelievably qualified to be at Harvard, but he felt like he never fit in there. He told us that if he had it to do over again, he thought that he would have been happier at UNC-CH.
Update: I ended up choosing UVa but I was offered 15k per year in merit scholarships (I believe it’s called the “University Scholarship”) at UChicago after asking about it.