Unless I'm missing something, she seems to be a student, possibly estranged from her family since 17, having spent the last year of her adolescence in foster ca

Unless I'm missing something, she seems to be a student, possibly estranged from her family since 17, having spent the last year of her adolescence in foster care, so it's plausible that she is currently poor, and needing of a scholarship to afford further education. We don't know any more details from this article, and there is a big difference between having grown up poor verses being currently poor, as ones early life can give them a huge advantage, but this might not be as clear cut of a case of "rich kid blatantly lies to get opportunity" as it may seem.