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Earning a bachelor’s degree seems to have become the standard these days. While the idea of going to college is thrilling, the thought of paying tuition isn’t.
More and more students are caught up in mounting student loans, and often it takes almost a lifetime to pay them off. It was even worse for students who came from families living in poverty.
It shouldn’t be this hard to attend a university. Fortunately, ever since the idea of the scholarship was first conceived in 1643, many deserving students have successfully obtained a degree without having to worry about how they could pay tuition.
Scholarships have played a very important role in the lives of many students. These days, many different types of scholarships are available for those who qualify in almost all fields such as sport scholarships, photography scholarships, etc.
The Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund provides financial assistance to Chicago students. It has changed the lives of many Murphy Scholars and helped them achieve success and fulfill their dreams.
Here’s a guide on how you can win a Daniel Murphy Scholarship and other related important information. Keep reading to boost your chances of winning.
About Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund
The Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund provides high school scholarship assistance and educational support to Chicago students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. DMSF seeks to make a life-altering difference in the lives of its scholars by providing them with the best opportunity to succeed in high school and college.
DMSF works to ensure that financial constraints do not hinder a young person’s ability to obtain a quality education. It seeks to create three-way partnerships between college preparatory high schools, the families of bright and young people from financially under-resourced communities, and DMSF.
Through these partnerships, young people who traditionally have very little choice in matters of education receive the opportunity to attend a high-performing high school, participate in extracurricular activities, benefit from honors and accelerated high school classes, and take advantage of DMSF’s educational support services and programs.
By allowing these scholars to attend college preparatory high schools, DMSF is making a difference in the lives of deserving young men and women, their families, and their communities.
The Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund was founded in 1989. After partnering with two private high schools, in the spring of 1990, it awarded its first high school scholarships to four students who exhibited academic excellence.
Program Benefits
The Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund offers high school scholarship assistance and programmatic support to Chicago students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. By applying for the scholarship, successful candidates will have the opportunity to join the following programs in addition to receiving scholarships:
1. Mentoring & Affinity Groups
For many Murphy Scholars, the high school experience requires emotional, academic, and social adjustments. To help ensure their success, DMSF matches Murphy Scholars, who request a mentor with a caring adult who serves as a confidant and advisor.
Mentors and scholars communicate regularly and meet independently at least once each quarter. Additionally, DMSF hosts several organized social and cultural events to facilitate mentor-mentee engagement.
2. Tutoring
DMSF requires that all Murphy Scholars maintain a GPA of 3.0 as the condition to keep the scholarships. To help make sure that they meet this obligation, DMSF makes professional tutoring available to them. In addition, a dedicated tutoring center exists at the DMSF offices and is open two afternoons a week.
3. College Counseling
To help both scholars and their parents, DMSF has implemented a four-year college counseling curriculum. It takes scholars and parents on college tours beginning their freshman year of high school.
Also, it hosts seminars to discuss the different types of colleges and universities as well as the many kinds of applications and financial aid packages.
Beginning junior year, DMSF helps all scholarship recipients prepare for standardized tests like the ACT and SAT. Plus, it helps them develop the list of colleges to which they will apply and find scholarships for which they are eligible.
Eligibility Requirements
Applicants that demonstrate academic potential, strong character, and financial need are the best candidates for a Daniel Murphy Scholarship.
Aspiring Murphy Scholars demonstrate academic potential through the grades and test scores they received in 6th and 7th grade, although neither factor is determinative. Applicants’ report cards should contain mostly A’s and B’s in core subjects, and test scores should display the ability to work at grade level or better.
Strong character is demonstrated through school and community activities the applicant is involved in, as well as by the content of the essays the applicant is required to write.
DMSF also carefully considers teacher recommendations. Recommendations provided by teachers and a principal or guidance counselor also factor in.
How to Apply for a Daniel Murphy Scholarship
The DMSF application is entirely online. The application requires students to write two essays and complete a short-answer questionnaire, provide contact information for a 7th grade English/Language Arts teacher and 7th grade Math teacher, and guidance counselor or principal who will submit recommendation forms on the student’s behalf.
DMSF also requires parents to provide detailed financial information. Parents will need to scan and upload proof of income (i.e. All forms 1040 and W2).
Closing Date
Applications for the Daniel Murphy Scholarship end on October 1.
Once an application is received by DMSF, it is reviewed to ensure that it is complete. Incomplete applications are not considered. Completed applications are reviewed by at least two readers, and ultimately about one in every five students who have applied is selected to be interviewed.
Those applicants who are selected for an interview will be advised of their interview date approximately one week in advance of the interview. At the interview, each applicant will meet with two or three panels of interviewers, all of whom are volunteers.
Each meeting will last for about ten minutes. Then separately, the parents or guardians meet with each panel of interviewers. Everyone will also meet with a member of the DMSF Education Department.
Contact Details
If you have any questions regarding this scholarship, feel free to contact DMSF at admission@dmsf.org. Alternatively, call its customer service at 312-455-7800.
Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund’s Official Website
Find out more about this scholarship program by visiting the DMSF’s official website at www.dmsf.org.
While we try to keep the information up to date and accurate, information is subject to change without prior notice. Thus, please always refer to the official website of the scholarship provider for complete and update information.
