Chicago Scholars Virtual is an online version of our proven Chicago Scholars Classic curriculum hosted in our web app, REACH. CSV Scholars are members of that year’s Chicago Scholars Class and will become Chicago Scholars Alumni when they graduate from college. 

CSV Scholars receive all of the same content as Scholars in our in-person program, but the majority of their Chicago Scholars experience will be online. Starting with the Class of 2032, CSV Scholars will:

• Attend college interviews during ScholarCon, a new program that will take the place of Onsite in 2027
• Attend a virtual New Scholar Orientation
• Interact with a mentor online
• Attend our exclusive, in-person College Fair
• Have access to all the benefits of our college partnerships, our emergency and leadership development grants, and exclusive scholarships

CSV Scholars will not be assigned a cohort or attend in-person workshops

CSV has the same eligibility requirements as the Chicago Scholars Classic program.

Eligible applicants: 

• Live and attend school within the Chicago city limits
• Are juniors in high school
• Have a 3.0 GPA or higher (if your GPA is lower, please still apply — there’s room for you to add details about your academic journey)
• Want to attend a four-year college

CSV applicants complete the same application as Classic Scholars. There is no need to indicate your preference for CSV or in-person programming at this point. 

Once you finish the written application, you’ll be asked to complete a virtual interview via SparkHire. A link and instructions will be sent to the email you used for your written application.

CSV Scholars go through the same application process as in-person participants. The process looks like this:

Fill out the Chicago Scholars application. Once you submit the application, you’ll get an email asking you to complete a one-way video interview via SparkHire

Successful applicants will be notified in May 

No, we do not have capacity to accommodate CSV students at Onsite. However, CSV participants will still have access to virtual college and career info sessions and will benefit from all of our College Partners’ commitments to Scholars.

In 2027, CSV Scholars will be invited to attend ScholarCon, a new, in-person program that will include college interviews, a career fair, and more.

CSV students will not be assigned to cohorts. For the Class of 2032, we are piloting a virtual mentorship program. More details will be shared when available.

CSV is best suited for Scholars who would prefer to complete their college and career learning remotely and at their own pace. 

A few other considerations: 

• CSV is only appropriate for Scholars who have reliable access to the internet and a device that can access the internet
• Scholars who have transportation concerns or don’t think they can regularly attend programming in the Loop should consider CSV

REACH is a web app owned by Chicago Scholars. Through REACH, people all over the world can access college, career, and leadership resources through quests personalized to them and their needs. 

CSV is an exclusive quest within REACH that will only be available to students who are accepted into our program. Please note that while REACH is based on Chicago Scholars’ curriculum, only CSV has access to the full curriculum in REACH. CSV also provides additional opportunities like an invitation to the College Fair and access to exclusive scholarships.