Scholarships to Medical School

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How often are people awarded scholarships to medical schoo? I've heard of people getting full rides, but i'm just curious, what kind of cridentials do these students have?
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Your ass must be made out of gold :D
 
Yes, some schools do give out scholarships. I have a close friend is received one from UMich and at Penn (for example) they give out 10 full-tuition merit scholarships per year. So yes, they are given but it depends on the school.
 
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If you don't mind me asking, do you know what kind of grades or qualifications your friend had? I guess i'm trying to see how realistic it is. If its 40+ MCAT with 2 first authored publications or something more reasonable.
 
revaldo29;4499164]If you don't mind me asking, do you know what kind of grades or qualifications your friend had? I guess i'm trying to see how realistic it is. If its 40+ MCAT with 2 first authored publications or something more reasonable.

No, no...stats were reasonable. MCAT was solid (not 40+) and gpa was pretty solid, but not a 4.0. But my friend was a very strong all-around applicant - great research experience, awesome rec letters (mentioned to him by interviewers), athlete, etc. Also received the same offer (full ride) to Stanford...so its possible!
 
revaldo29 said:
If you don't mind me asking, do you know what kind of grades or qualifications your friend had? I guess i'm trying to see how realistic it is. If its 40+ MCAT with 2 first authored publications or something more reasonable.
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No, no...stats were reasonable. MCAT was solid (not 40+) and gpa was pretty solid, but not a 4.0. But my friend was a very strong all-around applicant - great research experience, awesome rec letters (mentioned to him by interviewers), athlete, etc. Also received the same offer (full ride) to Stanford...so its possible!
 
Scholarships to medical school are rarer than undergrad. In general, they go to people who get accepted to several of the top schools and those schools use their scholarship money to woo them to attending their particular school, i.e. someone choosting between Harvard and WashU. WashU realizes that said student could easily go to Harvard because of prestige and whatnot so offers half-off tuition. There are also quite a few private scholarships for medical school as well. But since all doctors are practically guaranteed a high salary after graduation (versus Ph.D.s who don't necessarily make bank), most people see little need to give med students scholarships.
 
Yup said:
revaldo29;4499164]If you don't mind me asking, do you know what kind of grades or qualifications your friend had? I guess i'm trying to see how realistic it is. If its 40+ MCAT with 2 first authored publications or something more reasonable.

No, no...stats were reasonable. MCAT was solid (not 40+) and gpa was pretty solid, but not a 4.0. But my friend was a very strong all-around applicant - great research experience, awesome rec letters (mentioned to him by interviewers), athlete, etc. Also received the same offer (full ride) to Stanford...so its possible!
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Stanford does not offer full rides. They have entirely need based aid. Your friend lied to you.
 
nope, stanford is doing merit scholarships for the first time this year, just had my interview and they announced it.
 
ordeliacay said:
nope, stanford is doing merit scholarships for the first time this year, just had my interview and they announced it.
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WOW. They never told us that at my interview. In fact, they said that they didn't offer merit scholarships. Now I'm even more excited about Stanford... (nervous Towelie)

Either way, since this is the first year, the friend was still a liar.
 
I was surprised at the lack of non-med school related scholarships available for med students. I'm Canadian btw, but wished there were more.
 
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Being: a) minority or b) female helps incredibly. Private schools > publics.

Be sure to ask about partial scholarships, and what the qualifications are. Jefferson had a bunch of partials for things like "short haired Quaker women with no more than two hands", etc.

Full rides are out there. Don't be afraid to ask about them.

dc
 
Do public schools give out of state tuition waivers as a form of scholarship? I'm aware that private schools give out more schoarlships, but their tuition is much higher so in the end, you still pay more than state schools. Say for example i'm a resident of Georgia but I decided to apply to University of Alabama and my scores are far better than the average at UAB, is there any possibility that they would offer me in state tuition as an incentive? Has anyone ever heard of this happening?
 
revaldo29 said:
Say for example i'm a resident of Georgia but I decided to apply to University of Alabama and my scores are far better than the average at UAB, is there any possibility that they would offer me in state tuition as an incentive? Has anyone ever heard of this happening?
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No. You are looking at this all wrong. Usually state schools operate under specific legislative guidelines/legislation in terms of what they can and cannot do with respect to in-staters, tuition and the like. So they tend to be much less flexible than private schools. And they have a mission to service in-state needs, so your high scores are less meaningful to them as compared to an in-stater who might actually go into practice locally.
 
Actually, Towelie, my friend did not lie. I am just curious where your authority on Stanford med school tuition policies comes from...
 
There are cases, such as my friend's, that warrant full tuition being paid. If a school wants you enough, they will find a way to make it happen.
 
Law2Doc said:
No. You are looking at this all wrong. Usually state schools operate under specific legislative guidelines/legislation in terms of what they can and cannot do with respect to in-staters, tuition and the like. So they tend to be much less flexible than private schools. And they have a mission to service in-state needs, so your high scores are less meaningful to them as compared to an in-stater who might actually go into practice locally.
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very well said. Thank you.
 
Yup said:
Actually, Towelie, my friend did not lie. I am just curious where your authority on Stanford med school tuition policies comes from...
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He was proved wrong earlier and and owned up to his being uninformed--but it is a brand new policy this year, so to the best of his knowledge your friend was lying because until now they never offered scholarships.
 
That also being said, it seems to be more common for private (top-tier) schools than most public schools.
 
Yup said:
There are cases, such as my friend's, that warrant full tuition being paid. If a school wants you enough, they will find a way to make it happen.
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Are you sure his scholarship was all merit based and not need based?
 
Yup said:
Actually, Towelie, my friend did not lie. I am just curious where your authority on Stanford med school tuition policies comes from...
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I'm just messing around. I was going by their stated policy on the website, as well as what they told us on the interview day. But, obviously, exceptions to policies can be made...
 
which schools offer need-based scholarships? i know creighton was merit-based only...so not expecting anything from them :rolleyes:
 
Some state schools offer merit scholarships, but they're pretty few and far between.

I don't think it takes fantastic stats, maybe just a well rounded applicant, but it's definitely not something you should count on.
 
I personally know 2 people who got full rides at Wayne State. one was a first -time college graduate in his family who had about a 31 with a high gpa and was president of just about every community service organization ever created. The other was a kid with a 38.
 
I know that JHU and WashU have nice merit scholarships for minority students...pretty sweet deal...full tuition plus stipend!!!
 
revaldo29 said:
Are you sure his scholarship was all merit based and not need based?
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I was offered two full rides. My FAFSA included my full time salary as an Occupational Therapist.

Be sure to ask the ad comm about scholarships and how you can get them.

dc
 
so ley's say that you do get into two prestigious schools. do you just call em up and ask them what their offer is?

I mean, whats the procedure on this sort of thing...Sounds kinda ballsy to me
 
Actually the school that awarded me a full-ride notified me with the acceptance letter and that it was based on incoming GPA/MCAT. I was an August MCAT and a November interviewee. They wanted me to make a decision by January (at which time I was holding 3 additional acceptances). Other schools had offered me various sums but I went with the full-ride tuition. It turned out to be a good decision because now that I am almost done with residency, paying back $40K locked in at 3% interest is looking like a great decision. I don't know of anyone who called the school and asked for a scholarship but I suppose that it's worth a try. At least you can get them looking at your stuff.

I also had filled out the FAFSA and all parental info too (even though I was long out of the house and independent) along with the schools financial aid form. I filled out my FAFSA right after I filled out my AMCAS and filled out each schools FA application before or on interview day. I didn't qualify for need-based FA and with the full-ride I borrowed for living expenses.
 
maestro1625 said:
I personally know 2 people who got full rides at Wayne State. one was a first -time college graduate in his family who had about a 31 with a high gpa and was president of just about every community service organization ever created. The other was a kid with a 38.
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Any chance that either of them are actually doing the MD/PhD program? I seem to recall hearing that was a good way to get your MD paid for by the school.
 
oldjeeps said:
Any chance that either of them are actually doing the MD/PhD program? I seem to recall hearing that was a good way to get your MD paid for by the school.
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Schools are quite good at weeding out people who only want to do an MD/PhD for the free ride
 
oldjeeps said:
Any chance that either of them are actually doing the MD/PhD program? I seem to recall hearing that was a good way to get your MD paid for by the school.
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It makes no sense to do an MD/PhD for a free ride. The PhD will take 3 years, at least, if it's a funded PhD. It doesn't make sense to lose 3 years of earning potential to go to medical school for free. That's like trading $300-700K for $200K. Bad idea.
 
Towelie said:
It makes no sense to do an MD/PhD for a free ride. The PhD will take 3 years, at least, if it's a funded PhD. It doesn't make sense to lose 3 years of earning potential to go to medical school for free. That's like trading $300-700K for $200K. Bad idea.
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agreed. MdPhd is a long road and the money isn't enough to justify doing it.

On another note, I think almost all schools give out merit scholarships. They may not have a particular program and it may not be written out, but they do. If they really want someone, I think they may bump up the grant money....this equals merit scholarship. When ppl call a school after they have gotten in and say: " I got into school abc and got money but if the financial aid package I got at your school was better I would rather go here" and they end up getting extra money.....this equals merit scholarship. Its just not spoken of as much and it may not be full tuition.
 
My school gives both need-based and merit scholarships, some of which are full rides that also include stipends. Eventually the plan is for all students to attend for free, but this won't happen any time soon, unfortunately.
 
C.P. Jones said:
which schools offer need-based scholarships? i know creighton was merit-based only...so not expecting anything from them :rolleyes:
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GW offers only need-based grants.
 
Does anyone know if the UCs (UCLA, UCD, UCI, UCSF, UCSD) offer scholarships and what kind (need or merit based)? Also, how does one get them - do you have to apply separately or are you automatically considered after filling out the FAFSA? Thanks in advance!
 
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