One of my son’s close friends at UChicago is an Odyssey scholar from a rural area. Since I grew up poor and put myself through college, I was very concerned about how students without pocket money navigated things like the dining halls not serving food on Saturday nights, school supplies and computers needed, prep or help for classes. From my son’s description the scholars are given plenty of spending money to be able to afford to do outings with the other students, buy computers, eat out on Saturdays, etc. My son also laughed at the idea that his friend was any less prepared or able to compete - this kid is kicking ass and apparently doesn’t need any help with the scholarly work.