How Does Having A Notable Scholarship Affect Your Chances of Getting In?

[bengirlxD]

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Just something that I have been pondering about but how does having a very notable scholarship such as the Gates Millennium, Intel, Rhodes impact your chances of getting into a med school. Is there any preemptive edge that comes with receiving these big name scholarships? And if so how much magnitude of worth does having it have when it comes to applications?

 

[Gandyy]

Good question. I dont think adcoms would place too much of an emphasis on it.

But who knows

 

[DesitnationMD]

I would think it cannot hurt, like any other accolade or award. As for how positive it is, I guess it would depend, if anything, on the reputation of the award itself. Being a Macarthur fellow or Rhodes scholar on average will mean more to adcoms than Local Rotary Scholarship #16 or state scholarships. If anything it reinforces your academic discipline, but most likely not much.

 

[Spector1]

probably could mark it under awards but not much more than that

 

[timeflies]

Personally, I think a Rhodes will get your foot through the door (read:II) for nearly every top tier medical school in the US.

But that's just from my perception of the prestige of that scholarship.

 

[GrapesofRath]

Personally, I think a Rhodes will get your foot through the door (read:II) for nearly every top tier medical school in the US.

But that's just from my perception of the prestige of that scholarship.

The accomplishments behinds getting the Rhodes Scholarship more than the Rhodes itself.

 

[Salt Salt]

Lol @ the people saying a Rhodes Scholarship wouldn't count for much

 

[Gandyy]

Lol @ the people saying a Rhodes Scholarship wouldn't count for much

It could or could not.

Like grapes of rath said... its more about what he or she did the scholarship.

 

[timeflies]

The accomplishments behinds getting the Rhodes Scholarship more than the Rhodes itself.

Yes, of course. There is no inherent value in any "award". The fact that it is the most prestigious merit-based award presupposes that by having one, you very likely were incredibly accomplished, enough so to be able to say that you are a Rhodes Scholar.

 

[GrapesofRath]

Yes, of course. There is no inherent value in any "award". The fact that it is the most prestigious merit-based award presupposes that by having one, you very likely were incredibly accomplished, enough so to be able to say that you are a Rhodes Scholar.

Now maybe the biggest benefit it can provide for med school admission is the opportunities it presents for an applicant if they win it that no one else gets.

The thing is awards that are valuable in themselves for med school admission purposes have criteria that are outside of what an ADCOM directly is evaluating you on or beyond the scope of their evaluation. For example, someone who wins an award at a research symposium for their poster has a valuable award where listing that alone can mean something. It shows their research capabilities were assessed to be top notch by people who spent far more time and had a much closer view of their project/understanding of the field. how they presented it and the work they did than an ADCOM who reads a short PI letter, and what the applicant has to say about it and has limited background in the field. Now, an ADCOM can start to gauge someone's research understanding and capabilities more once they grill them in an interview but most of the weeding out of applicants happens before the interview.

Note hopefully nobody is stupid enough to interpret this as poster presentation award>Rhodes scholar.

 

[md-2020]

Lol @ the people saying a Rhodes Scholarship wouldn't count for much

Probably not nearly as much as you think.

 

[Salt Salt]

It could or could not.

Like grapes of rath said... its more about what he or she did the scholarship.

No, it definitely will. This is the most prestigious scholarship in the history of the world. Only 32 Americans get them every year, and this includes scholars from ANY field (not just medicine/science). Harvard Med accepts several hundred people every year just to fill its class, and these include applicants from just one field. Even Harvard would jump on a Rhodes Scholar like a starving wolf would jump on meat.

 

[md-2020]

No, it definitely will. This is the most prestigious scholarship in the history of the world. Only 32 Americans get them every year, and this includes scholars from ANY field (not just medicine/science). Harvard Med accepts several hundred people every year just to fill its class, and these include applicants from just one field. Even Harvard would jump on a Rhodes Scholar like a starving wolf would jump on meat.

That by itself? No.

 

[Salt Salt]

That by itself? No.

Yes

Your turn

 

[aalamruad]

Yes

Your turn

I'd be willing to bet that anyone who's qualified enough to get the Rhodes scholarship would have absolutely no trouble getting into med school without the scholarship.

 

[timeflies]

Now maybe the biggest benefit it can provide for med school admission is the opportunities it presents for an applicant if they win it that no one else gets.

The thing is awards that are valuable in themselves for med school admission purposes have criteria that are outside of what an ADCOM directly is evaluating you on or beyond the scope of their evaluation. For example, someone who wins an award at a research symposium for their poster has a valuable award where listing that alone can mean something. It shows their research capabilities were assessed to be top notch by people who spent far more time and had a much closer view of their project/understanding of the field. how they presented it and the work they did than an ADCOM who reads a short PI letter, and what the applicant has to say about it and has limited background in the field. Now, an ADCOM can start to gauge someone's research understanding and capabilities more once they grill them in an interview but most of the weeding out of applicants happens before the interview.

Note hopefully nobody is stupid enough to interpret this as poster presentation award>Rhodes scholar.

Ah, yes I see what you're saying. Totally agree. At this point in the game, I would assume that any Rhodes Scholar who is applying to medical school probably won the award based on the strength of accomplishments that medical schools would also tend to value. Selection bias certainly. I'd also assume the soft qualities that are implied by virtue of winning a Rhodes would also be things that med schools would probably favor as well.

 

[Gandyy]

I'd be willing to bet that anyone who's qualified enough to get the Rhodes scholarship would have absolutely no trouble getting into med school without the scholarship.

This ^

 

[Salt Salt]

I'd be willing to bet that anyone who's qualified enough to get the Rhodes scholarship would have absolutely no trouble getting into med school without the scholarship.

I think this logic is precisely the source of confusion in this thread. Would a person who wins a Rhodes Scholarship have a hard time getting into medical school (hell, a really good medical school)? No.

But this is not the question in the title of the thread! Which is: Would being a Rhodes Scholar (e.g. selected by an extremely picky admissions committee to join the ranks of Bill Clinton and Tony Abbott, then subsequently earning an advanced degree at the most prestigious institution of higher learning in the world) help you even more? Yessss.

 

[aalamruad]

I think this logic is precisely the source of confusion in this thread. Would a person who wins a Rhodes Scholarship have a hard time getting into medical school (hell, a really good medical school)? No.

But this is not the question in the title of the thread! Which is: Would being a Rhodes Scholar (e.g. selected by an extremely picky admissions committee to join the ranks of Bill Clinton and Tony Abbott, then subsequently earning an advanced degree at the most prestigious institution of higher learning in the world) help you even more? Yessss.

Barely.. the scholarship is merely a representation of the quality of your EC's and stats, and representations are nearly irrelevant when adcom members can directly see what the scholarship is evaluating throughout the rest of your app

 

[steelersfan1243]

Barely.. the scholarship is merely a representation of the quality of your EC's and stats, and representations are nearly irrelevant when adcom members can directly see what the scholarship is evaluating throughout the rest of your app

You are neglecting the brag factor the school gets if students in their class received the Rhodes Scholarship.

 

[aalamruad]

You are neglecting the brag factor the school gets if students in their class received the Rhodes Scholarship.

so minor (unless this was sarcastic 😉)

 

[Salt Salt]

Barely.. the scholarship is merely a representation of the quality of your EC's and stats, and representations are nearly irrelevant when adcom members can directly see what the scholarship is evaluating throughout the rest of your app

Not quite. I see your logic but you're forgetting several things:

1. Most Important: An extreme picky admissions committee has deemed you worthy of the most prestigious scholarship in the history of the world, and given you two years worth of free tuition and housing for it. When Harvard's admissions committee sees this, they are inevitably going to read your application differently, even if they insist they won't.

2. Great applicant vs. Great applicant + 2 years of studying at the greatest institution of higher learning in the world. Which would you pick?

3. The prestige of having a Rhodes scholar in one's class makes them valuable to admissions committees in and of themselves.

This is the difference between being accepted to several Top 10s, maybe with a couple scholarships, and being accepted EVERYWHERE, with merit scholarships out the wazoo.

 

[bengirlxD]

so minor (unless this was sarcastic 😉)

The brag factor was the primary reason I asked this question. I was lucky enough to receive the gates millennium scholarship which is an annual scholarship given to college freshman that pays for the rest of their college career including graduate and doctorate program but not professional. I was told by an advisor that putting this on your apps and other notable scholarships make you more than stand out because colleges like to brag about what big scholarship students they have but I remained skeptical. You would have to do well in school too or else it's too much of an advantage.