<p>Merit awards for undergraduates are rare but available. One category is what are called national scholarships like the Goldwater and Udall. These are considered highly competitive (indeed, receiving one puts you in a good position for grad school admissions) and the money is only OK (5-7,500/year). (there are also programs like the Beckman, for science majors: <a href=“http://ibd.uchicago.edu/beckman/[/url]”>About the Institute | Institute for Biophysical Dynamics)</p>
<p>There are some campus level awards for study abroad, summer work (such as Howard Hughes Fellowships for summer science research) and so forth that may be less competitive. Check the advising website:</p>
<p><a href=“https://frogs.uchicago.edu/[/url]”>College Center for Research and Fellowships | The University of Chicago;
<p>They recently revised it and lost much of the undergrad merit info, but some is still there.</p>