Best amongst schools that give out full scholarships?

[binky12]

I only remember a couple off the top of my head, but how would you rank them.

U Chicago
Vanderbilt
Mayo
Case Western?
... (more if you know)

Reason for asking, is that I see a lot of "full ride at ___ vs top ten school" threads, and the full ride school pretty much always wins. I'm curious how people rank the full scholarship schools between themselves (to eliminate the financial aspect).

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[QuantumMechanic]

UPenn gives out ~10 full rides I believe

 

[Mr. Tee]

WashU

 

[eekonomics]

I only remember a couple off the top of my head, but how would you rank them.

U Chicago
Vanderbilt
Mayo
Case Western?
... (more if you know)

Reason for asking, is that I see a lot of "full ride at ___ vs top ten school" threads, and the full ride school pretty much always wins. I'm curious how people rank the full scholarship schools between themselves (to eliminate the financial aspect).

Wash U gives out a few as well

 

[ltrain]

Michigan gives out some...

 

[binky12]

So that's:

U Chicago
Vanderbilt
Mayo
Case Western
Wash U
U Penn
U Mich

How would you rank these (ignoring cost)?

I'd probably go

1. U Penn
2. Wash U
3. U Mich
4. Mayo
5. U Chicago
6. Vanderbilt
7. Case Western
6.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

I'd probably put Mayo at the top of that list. Its the most underranked med school in the US (if you can stand MN winters)

 

[sheepunite]

I'd probably go

1. U Penn
2. Wash U
3. U Mich
4. Mayo
5. U Chicago
6. Vanderbilt
7. Case Western
6.

lol. and so would us news and world report, except for mayo.
what novel thing, exactly, are you trying to gauge?

 

[12loser12]

I'd probably put Mayo at the top of that list. Its the most underranked med school in the US (if you can stand MN winters)

I agree.

I heard a lot of the lower ranking is actually because they have a lot of private funding and don't get quite as many grants because of it.

 

[binky12]

what novel thing, exactly, are you trying to gauge?

Nothing particularly novel. Just a subcategorization of schools that I haven't seen done before (or at least this year).

Just some recent discussion on "full ride" schools piqued my interest on this.

 

[JohnMadden]

Doesn't Duke have full scholarships?

I also think University of South Florida has a couple...

 

[Dr. Josh]

Wow! what kind of stats do people have that get full rides? I'd take a lower ranked school to get a full ride. Anyone know of any?

 

[sheepunite]

Nothing particularly novel. Just a subcategorization of schools that I haven't seen done before (or at least this year).

Just some recent discussion on "full ride" schools piqued my interest on this.

ok.
i think duke still gives out full rides.

 

[LatinoMasFino]

UVA gives out fullrides as well...

 

[Robizzle]

Your mom gave me a full ride.

 

[Robizzle]

Sorry.. was that inappropriate

 

[dutchman]

Mayo gives 40% of their students a full ride.

 

[omegaxx]

ok.
i think duke still gives out full rides.

3 half-rides open to everyone, and 7 half-rides to URMs only.

 

[FemalesCANTDriv]

Your mom gave me a full ride.

 

[EBI831]

Based on personal preference, weather etc and vibe and just me generally i'd go if i had a full ride to all these places (which i will never have and also since i didn't apply to 4 of them)...now if baylor gave full rides i'd put it first but that's just me.
(1) Wash U
(2) Mayo
(3) U. Chicago
(4) Vanderbilt
(5) U Penn
(6) U Mich
(7) Case

 

[gsmithers68]

Based on personal preference, weather etc and vibe and just me generally i'd go if i had a full ride to all these places (which i will never have and also since i didn't apply to 4 of them)...now if baylor gave full rides i'd put it first but that's just me.
(1) Wash U
(2) Mayo
(3) U. Chicago
(4) Vanderbilt
(5) U Penn
(6) U Mich
(7) Case

I would go

(1) Mayo
(2) Penn
(3) Duke
(4) Wash U
(5) Vanderbilt
(6) U Chicago
(7) U Mich
(8) Case

Reasoning... Mayo has the best facilities in the country hands down, has the highest studnet:faculty ratio, high boards (240+ Avg EDITING MY POST, SORRY IT IS 238), and great opportunities.

But lets be honest... I would eat a poop hotdog for a full ride to any of these schools

 

[Towelie]

You people all rate Mayo way too high. First, it's in MN (yuck). Do you really want to spend four years there? Seriously? Second, it's not respected anywhere near as much as WashU, Duke, Penn, Chicago, Vandy, etc.

Mayo does not have a 240+ board score average (it may be in the 230s, but not over 240, at least last year). And it also does not have the best facilities in the country: those honors would go to JHU (the #1 hospital in the country) and Harvard (2 of the top 10 hospitals in the country).

 

[ahhh123]

You people all rate Mayo way too high. First, it's in MN (yuck). Do you really want to spend four years there? Seriously? Second, it's not respected anywhere near as much as WashU, Duke, Penn, Chicago, Vandy, etc.

Mayo does not have a 240+ board score average (it may be in the 230s, but not over 240, at least last year). And it also does not have the best facilities in the country: those honors would go to JHU (the #1 hospital in the country) and Harvard (2 of the top 10 hospitals in the country).

Emory gives out full rides

 

[baylormed]

You people all rate Mayo way too high. First, it's in MN (yuck). Do you really want to spend four years there? Seriously? Second, it's not respected anywhere near as much as WashU, Duke, Penn, Chicago, Vandy, etc.

Mayo does not have a 240+ board score average (it may be in the 230s, but not over 240, at least last year). And it also does not have the best facilities in the country: those honors would go to JHU (the #1 hospital in the country) and Harvard (2 of the top 10 hospitals in the country).

I agree. It's not even a top 20 school. Maybe the clinic is famous, but as far as the medical school I had never even heard of it until SDN.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

You people all rate Mayo way too high. First, it's in MN (yuck). Do you really want to spend four years there? Seriously? Second, it's not respected anywhere near as much as WashU, Duke, Penn, Chicago, Vandy, etc.

Mayo does not have a 240+ board score average (it may be in the 230s, but not over 240, at least last year). And it also does not have the best facilities in the country: those honors would go to JHU (the #1 hospital in the country) and Harvard (2 of the top 10 hospitals in the country).

the 3rd and 4th years can be spent at the satellite clinics in Scottsdale, AZ or Jacksonville, FL, so you can minimize your time spent in MN during the winter.

I don't understand your comment about the reputation of the Mayo Clinic. Mayo is very well known in the medical community. Facility "quality" is not a function of US News "Best Hospitals" rankings either. I'd say the Mayo education is superior due to the small class size, and its intense focus on its students instead of other things. But since you mentioned it, Mayo Clinic is actually the #2 hospital in the country (http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/best-hospitals/honorroll.htm.

 

[Anastasis]

Wow! what kind of stats do people have that get full rides? I'd take a lower ranked school to get a full ride. Anyone know of any?

Your state schools will have some scholarships too. I got a scholarship that covered tuition at my state school. It just depends.

 

[sunnyjohn]

the 3rd and 4th years can be spent at the satellite clinics in Scottsdale, AZ or Jacksonville, FL, so you can minimize your time spent in MN during the winter.

I don't understand your comment about the reputation of the Mayo Clinic. Mayo is very well known in the medical community. Facility "quality" is not a function of US News "Best Hospitals" rankings either. I'd say the Mayo education is superior due to the small class size, and its intense focus on its students instead of other things. But since you mentioned it, Mayo Clinic is actually the #2 hospital in the country (http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/best-hospitals/honorroll.htm.

SHHHHHH!!! Stop telling folks on SDN about the joy that is Mayo.

The less pre-meds know about Mayo, the better for the rest of us who plan on applying!

Nothing to see here people. Keep it moving. Apply to Hopkins, Harvard and Wash U.

 

[Lests55]

You people all rate Mayo way too high. First, it's in MN (yuck). Do you really want to spend four years there? Seriously? Second, it's not respected anywhere near as much as WashU, Duke, Penn, Chicago, Vandy, etc.

Mayo does not have a 240+ board score average (it may be in the 230s, but not over 240, at least last year). And it also does not have the best facilities in the country: those honors would go to JHU (the #1 hospital in the country) and Harvard (2 of the top 10 hospitals in the country).

I'm not so sure you can lump WashU, Duke, and Penn with Pritzker and Vandy. WashU, Duke and Penn are the cream of the crop with Pritzker, Vandy, and Mayo all essentially equivalent a notch below.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

SHHHHHH!!! Stop telling folks on SDN about the joy that is Mayo.

The less pre-meds know about Mayo, the better for the rest of us who plan on applying!

Nothing to see here people. Keep it moving. Apply to Hopkins, Harvard and Wash U.

I got rejected before the phone interview stage

If you are still out there Mayo, I'm willing to come to Rochester to interview if you reconsider

 

[Lests55]

I got rejected before the phone interview stage

If you are still out there Mayo, I'm willing to come to Rochester to interview if you reconsider

Haha...me too. I got the Mayo ax pre-interview as well. They have a unique evaluation of applicants. It seems like with the money they throw around to accepted students combined with the fact that it is a great school, they could have mcat/gpa averages as high as any school. I was looking on mdapp's for last year, and they accepted somebody off of the waitlist and gave them a full scholarship. Who ever heard of that? They have more money than they know what to do with .

Oh well, not to be for me.

 

[eekonomics]

Your state schools will have some scholarships too. I got a scholarship that covered tuition at my state school. It just depends.

I don't know if UC's have merit-based scholarships...definitely grants to cover some of the need, but I think they lack sorely in the purely merit based awards.

That's why most of the schools on this list are rich private schools! If you get a scholarship, your classmates are helping foot your bill. That being said, I hope I get a scholarship!

 

[JohnMadden]

That's why most of the schools on this list are rich private schools! If you get a scholarship, your classmates are helping foot your bill. That being said, I hope I get a scholarship!

The people who are footing the bill are rich people who have endowed scholarships. Classmates have nothing to do with it...

 

[Towelie]

the 3rd and 4th years can be spent at the satellite clinics in Scottsdale, AZ or Jacksonville, FL, so you can minimize your time spent in MN during the winter.

I don't understand your comment about the reputation of the Mayo Clinic. Mayo is very well known in the medical community. Facility "quality" is not a function of US News "Best Hospitals" rankings either. I'd say the Mayo education is superior due to the small class size, and its intense focus on its students instead of other things. But since you mentioned it, Mayo Clinic is actually the #2 hospital in the country (http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/best-hospitals/honorroll.htm.

I totally agree that the Mayo Clinic has a great reputation. But I think, as far as the med school is concerned, a lot of people don't even know that it exists. I really don't think the school has the reputation that any of the others mentioned above do.

I personally would have loved to go to a school like Mayo or CCLCM, if they weren't in such terrible locations. If there was an equivalent to these schools on either of the coasts, I would have been the first to apply.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

That's why most of the schools on this list are rich private schools! If you get a scholarship, your classmates are helping foot your bill. That being said, I hope I get a scholarship!

you obviously have no idea how merit based aid is funded.

 

[Mr. Tee]

They have more money than they know what to do with .

Same with WashU....

 

[jjmack]

almost all of the larger research schools have enough funding to makle the whole class tuition free if they want to. I know the dean of JHU thought about doing this a few years ago.

 

[lord_jeebus]

I don't know if UC's have merit-based scholarships...definitely grants to cover some of the need, but I think they lack sorely in the purely merit based awards.

That's why most of the schools on this list are rich private schools! If you get a scholarship, your classmates are helping foot your bill. That being said, I hope I get a scholarship!

The UCs have some modest merit scholarships. Once upon a time, when tuition was low, they covered most to all of it. Now they're not so significant.

 

[CCLCMer]

I only remember a couple off the top of my head, but how would you rank them.

U Chicago
Vanderbilt
Mayo
Case Western?
... (more if you know)

Reason for asking, is that I see a lot of "full ride at ___ vs top ten school" threads, and the full ride school pretty much always wins. I'm curious how people rank the full scholarship schools between themselves (to eliminate the financial aspect).

These lists wind up being pretty pointless since different people care about different things. Location didn't matter nearly as much to me as it seems to matter to a lot of people on here. I picked my school because I liked it and because the financial aid here is awesome. (CCLCM does give scholarships, some with stipends.) I'm pretty much neutral about the city, and one thing it has going for it is that it's a lot cheaper to live here than it is to live on either coast. That's a nice perk when you don't have an income and you're busy studying most of the time anyway.

 

[Xibye]

Mayo should definitely be at the top of this list. As already noted, the hospital and faculty are among the top in the world. Boards are high, class size is small (meaning lots of attention), and the med school has money coming out of its ears. Anyone who has ever visited knows that no school compares. I interviewed at UPenn, Johns Hopkins, Harvard, and Mayo. Mayo blew the rest away. If you've never seen it, it's easy to write it off. But once you visit you'll understand what I mean.

Mayo is underranked by U.S. News simply because much of the funding is from private donors and not public NIH money. It's not that Mayo can't get the NIH money (Mayo's NIH grant applications are almost always successful getting funding). It is instead simply that Mayo has so much money coming in from other places (private donations) that Mayo's researchers can spend their time doing actual research and not wasting time writing NIH grant proposals day after day. The whole reason why U.S. News includes NIH funding at all is to show which schools have research money. It's about the money, not NIH. Therefore, if US News more appropriately calculated rank by including ALL of an institution's research money income, Mayo would float way up to the top of the list. Hello top ten!

As for the weather, sure it's not the best. But as someone pointed out earlier, the second part of medical school there is the chance to go to sunny Florida or Arizona Mayo hospitals. Not to mention every 6 weeks during the first 2 years students get 2 week breaks where they have the chance to work with leading doctors anywhere in the world (Mayo pays for the whole trip and arranges for you to shadow anyone you want). Plus, Mayo's location (as cold as it may be) is also one of the cheapest places as far as living expenses are concerned. So I say go to Mayo on full scholarship, accumulate far less debt from living expenses than any NYC, Cali, Chicago, or Boston counterparts, and get a top 10 school education (regardless of U.S. New) at Mayo.

Finally (phew - this ended up longer than I thought ), while Mayo may not be well-known in the general non-medically educated community, there is not a doctor in this country who is not thoroughly impressed with that school. Mayo is extremely well-known among anyone who knows about the field of medicine.

They are all great schools...good luck to all.....and I'm still waiting on Mayo....but I may be waiting forever...

 

[sunnyjohn]

Stop telling folks how wonderful Mayo is!!
You're gonna give future pre-meds ideas and increase the application pool.

*Pulls out watch on chain*

"Don't believe a word Xibye said. Mayo is cold and not at the top of the list. Go to JHU. Minnesota sucks. You will obey Sunny and apply elesewhere....When you wake up you will not remember the name MAYO or this post.."

 

[Stolenspatulas]

Stop telling folks how wonderful Mayo is!!
You're gonna give future pre-meds ideas and increase the application pool.

*Pulls out watch on chain*

"Don't believe a word Xibye said. Mayo is cold and not at the top of the list. Go to JHU. Minnesota sucks. You will obey Sunny and apply elesewhere....When you wake up you will not remember the name MAYO or this post.."

Agreed. if JHU gave out free rides (which of course they don't) I would go there over Mayo any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

In all honesty, Mayo is appropriately ranked (though USnews rankings are stupid). No doctor I have met has ever praised the medical school (though they constantly praise the hospital...). Many don't even know it has a medical school.

 

[baylormed]

Agreed. if JHU gave out free rides (which of course they don't) I would go there over Mayo any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Not Sundays. God says it is the day of rest, and I don't dare disobey God's orders.

 

[Towelie]

Mayo should definitely be at the top of this list. As already noted, the hospital and faculty are among the top in the world. Boards are high, class size is small (meaning lots of attention), and the med school has money coming out of its ears. Anyone who has ever visited knows that no school compares. I interviewed at UPenn, Johns Hopkins, Harvard, and Mayo. Mayo blew the rest away. If you've never seen it, it's easy to write it off. But once you visit you'll understand what I mean.

Mayo is underranked by U.S. News simply because much of the funding is from private donors and not public NIH money. It's not that Mayo can't get the NIH money (Mayo's NIH grant applications are almost always successful getting funding). It is instead simply that Mayo has so much money coming in from other places (private donations) that Mayo's researchers can spend their time doing actual research and not wasting time writing NIH grant proposals day after day. The whole reason why U.S. News includes NIH funding at all is to show which schools have research money. It's about the money, not NIH. Therefore, if US News more appropriately calculated rank by including ALL of an institution's research money income, Mayo would float way up to the top of the list. Hello top ten!

As for the weather, sure it's not the best. But as someone pointed out earlier, the second part of medical school there is the chance to go to sunny Florida or Arizona Mayo hospitals. Not to mention every 6 weeks during the first 2 years students get 2 week breaks where they have the chance to work with leading doctors anywhere in the world (Mayo pays for the whole trip and arranges for you to shadow anyone you want). Plus, Mayo's location (as cold as it may be) is also one of the cheapest places as far as living expenses are concerned. So I say go to Mayo on full scholarship, accumulate far less debt from living expenses than any NYC, Cali, Chicago, or Boston counterparts, and get a top 10 school education (regardless of U.S. New) at Mayo.

Finally (phew - this ended up longer than I thought ), while Mayo may not be well-known in the general non-medically educated community, there is not a doctor in this country who is not thoroughly impressed with that school. Mayo is extremely well-known among anyone who knows about the field of medicine.

They are all great schools...good luck to all.....and I'm still waiting on Mayo....but I may be waiting forever...

You make some good points. But also some bad ones.

There is a lot negative about Mayo that you gloss over--it's in a location that would be miserable and lonely to live in for 4 years (can you imagine being single there? your chance of meeting someone would be, well, zero), the class size is ridiculously small (many would view this as a negative), a TON of doctors do not know that Mayo clinic even has a medical school, and you have a very limited patient population (a lot of zebras, for sure, but definitely lacking the inner-city population that you will get at most other schools). Your mention of funding is an absolute joke--if you add private and NIH money, Mayo would still be absolutely dwarfed by the likes of Harvard, Penn, JHU, etc.

 

[sunnyjohn]

http://www.mayoclinic.org/annualreport/numbers-2005.html

 

[Ersatzious]

No doctor I have met has ever praised the medical school (though they constantly praise the hospital...). Many don't even know it has a medical school.

a TON of doctors do not know that Mayo clinic even has a medical school

My P.I. recently sent out a mass email congratulating me on my decision to attend Mayo MD/PhD (MSTP), saying how sorry he would be to see me go, etc. As our laboratory spans across several disciplines, the email went out to a wide variety of researchers and clinicians. In writing and/or in person, every single one congratulated me on the acceptance, praising not only the clinic and the institution's research, but the quality of the medical school as well.

If top researchers/physicians here at Columbia heap praise on Mayo (chief surgeons, residency directors, lab and department heads, etc.), I would say Mayo's reputation is just fine.

 

[Xibye]

No doctor I have met has ever praised the medical school (though they constantly praise the hospital...). Many don't even know it has a medical school.

Haha, Stolenspatulas, I have seen your posts a million times and they are always full of hot air. If the above is true, you must not know many doctors. And any doctor (if any) that you do know must be living in a closet or raised, educated, and working in the boonies. The medical school is known worldwide among doctors.

 

[Xibye]

You make some good points. But also some bad ones.

There is a lot negative about Mayo that you gloss over--it's in a location that would be miserable and lonely to live in for 4 years (can you imagine being single there? your chance of meeting someone would be, well, zero), the class size is ridiculously small (many would view this as a negative), a TON of doctors do not know that Mayo clinic even has a medical school, and you have a very limited patient population (a lot of zebras, for sure, but definitely lacking the inner-city population that you will get at most other schools). Your mention of funding is an absolute joke--if you add private and NIH money, Mayo would still be absolutely dwarfed by the likes of Harvard, Penn, JHU, etc.

I admitted the place is isolated. And if finding a significant other or new BFF in medical school is your goal, then there is the possibility that the small town and student body are not for you. I'm in it for the education. Not the socializing. And by the way, the Mayo students are all very interesting and nice (BFF and date worthy ), though I must admit you are correct that they are not large in number.

As for the funding...look up the numbers for those other schools. I think you'll be suprised how much Mayo receives in comparison to the schools you mentioned.

 

[eekonomics]

Haha, Stolenspatulas, I have seen your posts a million times and they are always full of hot air. If the above is true, you must not know many doctors. And any doctor (if any) that you do know must be living in a closet or raised, educated, and working in the boonies. The medical school is known worldwide among doctors.

I'll have to agree with that. Mayo is pretty renowned, though the med school is not as respected as the hospital, in my fairly narrow, non-scientific, subjective poll.

 

[Xibye]

I'll have to agree with that. Mayo is pretty renowned, though the med school is not as respected as the hospital, in my fairly narrow, non-scientific, subjective poll.

When Mayo's hospital is SO SO SO respected (#2 in the country U.S. News Ranked) it's hard to compete.

You say that Mayo Medical School is less respected than Mayo Clinic the hospital (even Harvard's hopital system can't beat Mayo's), so how do you see Mayo's respectability among other medical schools?

 

[Mr. Tee]

When Mayo's hospital is SO SO SO respected (#2 in the country U.S. News Ranked) it's hard to compete.

You say that Mayo Medical School is less respected than Mayo Clinic the hospital (even Harvard's hopital system can't beat Mayo's), so how do you see Mayo's respectability among other medical schools?

When you ask a stranger on the street what he thinks the top medical school in the US is, what do you think he or she will say? I bet 99% of the people you ask would say Harvard or Hopkins.

What about when you ask a stranger in any foreign country? I think that characterizes the definition of "renown" enough.

Mayo is great; they will give great CLINICAL education. However, 99% of your clinical skills will come from residency, not M3 and M4 years. Isn't the Mayo School of Graduate Medical Education (residency) a different branch of the Mayo Clinic institution than Mayo Medical School?