<p>The Fall 2010 entering class at St. Olaf College (tied at #49 on the 2009-10 USNews list as I recall) has about 80 Buntrock scholars—i.e. students who were awarded the top $16K merit scholarship. The Buntrock scholarship is competitive and requires a separate essay. According to stuff sent to my S (who was selected for a Buntrock), about 1000 applicants applied for Buntrock scholarships, about 120 were selected as “finalists” who were interviewed before the final decisions were made.</p>