how do you get a medical school scholarship?

[Cooolguy]

Hey guys, ive been reading threads about people getting medical school scholarships, how do you get one of those? I want to know so i can try to get one lol. Any ideas?

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[LifetimeDoc]

I think you have to give the school a reason to really want you to goto their school, so they throw you some money as a bribe to stay. I believe that if you have a really high GPA or high MCAT score, they may be wanting to bump up their average numbers, so they throw you money to ensure that you goto their school.

Just my $0.02

 

[Cooolguy]

so there are no applications or such?

 

[deleted77919]

First find out if the school has any money available for this. If you have a GPA and or MCAT significantly above the school's average then you might be able to secure one.

I was offered $15,000/yr at Miami (offset OOS tuition plus a little more) and $10,000/yr at VCU (in-state). In the end I chose neither and went to a school that was not offering me a scholarship. (But did have a lower cost of housing due to dorms . . . hooray dorms).

 

[Doctor~Detroit]

it's generally going to vary by school, including whether you apply for it and when it is received.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

I think you have to give the school a reason to really want you to goto their school, so they throw you some money as a bribe to stay. I believe that if you have a really high GPA or high MCAT score, they may be wanting to bump up their average numbers, so they throw you money to ensure that you goto their school.

Just my $0.02

Wait, you're saying once the school knows you really want to go there, they'll give you money to go? Doesn't make sense to me.

You have to make the school want you but look like you're not all that interested before they bribe you to come. Scholarships are usually offered by lower tiered schools to get top tiered candidates so you may end up facing choosing a higher ranking expensive school vs a lower ranking scholarship school.

 

[deleted77919]

Miami had an application, but I never filled it out. VCU did not have an application. Most schools will consider you automatically. The really competitive ones (full ride at WashU, etc) usually have an application that you are invited to fill out.

Something else to consider doing is once you are accepted you can always try calling the admissions office and say something like "I really like your medical school, and would like to attend, but can not currently justify the cost compared with my other acceptances. Is there any scholarship money available?" Just BE POLITE.

 

[deleted77919]

Wait, you're saying once the school knows you really want to go there, they'll give you money to go? Doesn't make sense to me.

You have to make the school want you but look like you're not all that interested before they bribe you to come.

Not entirely true. Most schools have very limited scholarship budgets and don't want to offer the money to someone, have that person sit on it until May 15, and then turn it down (the money could have been used to attract someone else). They should know you are interested, but some money would help make up your mind.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

Not entirely true. Most schools have very limited scholarship budgets and don't want to offer the money to someone, have that person sit on it until May 15, and then turn it down (the money could have been used to attract someone else). They should know you are interested, but some money would help make up your mind.

I said "not all that interested." This doesn't mean not interested, its more like somewhat interested. So pretty much we're saying the same thing.

 

[maestro1625]

I said "not all that interested." This doesn't mean not interested, its more like somewhat interested. So pretty much we're saying the same thing.

well for examples I guess, I know 2 of the 3 full rides given out for Wayne State's current second year class (both were graduates of my HS, actually).

One had a 3.9+ gpa, 31 MCAT and was basically the president of every service activity known to man. I think he was also the first in his family to go to college IIRC.

the other one had a 38 or 39 MCAT, dont remember which (not that it really matters at that point).

 

[BucsFan813]

Wait, you're saying once the school knows you really want to go there, they'll give you money to go? Doesn't make sense to me.

You have to make the school want you but look like you're not all that interested before they bribe you to come. Scholarships are usually offered by lower tiered schools to get top tiered candidates so you may end up facing choosing a higher ranking expensive school vs a lower ranking scholarship school.

THe lower tier scholarship offer is not entirely true:

WashU, Vanderbilt, Duke and others have at least 10 full tuition scholarships each along with a number of partial scholarships. They have these scholarships to pull applicants away from need-based schools like Harvard and Hopkins.