Mount Holyoke holds back a small number of merit awards for first-year candidates, and the Chin Scholars award is the largest of them. Named for its benefactor, Joseph H. Chin P'10, it pays full tuition for two incoming students each year.
Selection rests on two things together: strong academic work and an impressive record of community service and engagement. Mount Holyoke decides these awards without looking at family finances, and counts them as part of the wider aid package, so a student with demonstrated need may also receive need-based aid on top.
There is nothing extra to submit. Every first-year applicant is considered automatically when the Office of Admission reads the application, which means the application itself has to carry the evidence of your service work.
Mount Holyoke is a women's college that describes itself as gender diverse, so check its admission pages for how that applies to you. Almost half of incoming international students receive a merit scholarship of some size, so the wider merit pool is worth applying into even if two full-tuition awards a year are a long shot.
