Any Scholarship Negotiation Advice?

[OchemOficionado]

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Hi guys, a user asked if I have any advice on negotiating scholarship money as a fellow URM, and I don't. I've read threads about it, but have yet to put anything I've read into practice (well, I did try to negotiate in undergrad and failed). I thought this would be a great topic to open up to the forum so that everyone can contribute and learn from the advice that's sure to come.

 

[flydoc92]

Really looking forward to learning more about this topic !

 

[DokterMom]

Tact and tone are pretty important. You will need to articulate clearly why the school should give money to you in particular rather than to another well-qualified and equally-broke future med student.

My best advice is to just spit it out plainly in simple, blunt language on a piece of scratch paper. Do NOT worry about the language at this stage. Three sentences top. Trim it down, tidy it up, make sure your points come through. Close with what you want them to do.

Then pretty it up and edit for tone. You need to be humble but also clear. Why should the school give money to you?

 

[Ms. Incognito]

Tact and tone are pretty important. You will need to articulate clearly why the school should give money to you in particular rather than to another well-qualified and equally-broke future med student.

My best advice is to just spit it out plainly in simple, blunt language on a piece of scratch paper. Do NOT worry about the language at this stage. Three sentences top. Trim it down, tidy it up, make sure your points come through. Close with what you want them to do.

Then pretty it up and edit for tone. You need to be humble but also clear. Why should the school give money to you?

3 Sentences top!!!??? Oh wow lol. Did this work for you? How much of a boost did you see in your financial package afterwards?

 

[DokterMom]

3 Sentences top!!!??? Oh wow lol. Did this work for you? How much of a boost did you see in your financial package afterwards?

Different circumstances. But the 3 sentences is for the "blunt draft" copy. You can have 5 or 6 in the final 😎

 

[ArdorAyurveda]

I would say having a competitive offer is also helpful.

 

[OchemOficionado]

Belvita's MDapplicants profile has some helpful suggestions/templates: belvita profile - MDApplicants.com. 🙂

 

[NontradCA]

Undergrad is different. For medical school, If you’re a competitive applicant and you’re from an underrepresented group you can definitely negotiate for scholarships. If you meet these two criteria, the schools need you more than you need them. I was thrown a few extra scholarships in medical school because of negotiating. You have to ask. And you can let different schools know what others have offered you. A lot of times they’ll match other offers.