honestly... merit-based scholarships are insulting. poor people should not have to be the best of the best of the best to get a shot at an education when rich people barely have to try.

poor people should not have to work themselves to the bone for four years balancing jobs, extracurriculars, and perfect grades just to perform a desperate song and dance to an admissions board, groveling for the chance to be given the same opportunities rich people are born into.

and, guess what! in case you didn't know, most of those scholarships for leadership or exceptional service or whatever the fuck GO TO RICH PEOPLE ANYWAY!

when you're getting tens of thousands of applications a year, applicants need to stand out -- and, more often than not, exceptional life experiences in high school are a privilege of the rich. poor people are working 20 hours a week from age 15, not founding "youth nonprofits".

many of those "exceptional experiences" are built for the rich, as well. when i was in high school, ontario's most prestigious programs for "exceptional youth" cost anywhere from $500-$8000. i got into all of them, by the way -- i just couldn't pay the cost of admission.

I didn't put my activism on my uni apps because I didn't want to use it for academic gain, but even aside from that, i was president of 5 clubs, had 1000+ volunteer hours, worked part time, and maintained a 4.0 gpa going into physics&math. i didn't get a cent from my university.

the people i know who DID get UBC's biggest scholarships were upper middle class to rich and had a resume filled with international private schools, expensive voluntourism trips, and reference letters from their parents' high-powered connections.

merit based scholarships do the exact opposite of what they're "intended" to do -- they give rich people yet another leg up but put the blame on poor people for not being exceptional enough.

if this sounds like im bitter, it's because i am! i'm lucky enough to be able to afford my education w a combination of third party scholarships, working, and help from my parents, but many people don't have this privilege and had even fewer opportunities than me to start with.