How to get a full-blown scholarships for medical school?

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JeTeVu

JeTeVu

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Long time lurker, first time poster!

As I'm browsing mdapps, I see a lot of people receiving full tuition 'incentives' to go to particular medical schools.

Is there a secret? I see a lot of 40/4.0rs getting scholarships at mid-tier/low-tier medical schools...is that it?
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I believe the mayo clinic MD/PHD gives a full ride.
 
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JeTeVu said:
Long time lurker, first time poster!

As I'm browsing mdapps, I see a lot of people receiving full tuition 'incentives' to go to particular medical schools.

Is there a secret? I see a lot of 40/4.0rs getting scholarships at mid-tier/low-tier medical schools...is that it?
Click to expand...
A good first step would probably be to apply to schools that give out lots of money (Chicago, Mayo, Michigan, Vanderbilt...). Also, DFTBA.
 
nadaba said:
A good first step would probably be to apply to schools that give out lots of money (Chicago, Mayo, Michigan, Vanderbilt...). Also, DFTBA.
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Excuse my ignorance, but what is DFTBA?
 
You can join the military like me!

Other than that, there aren't a huge amount of options.

As were mentioned, all MD/PhDs are free tuition plus a stipend. Mayo itself (not the PhD part) has amazing financial aid, and I heard it was pretty much impossible to ever pay full tuition. Though, you have to get into Mayo. That's pretty difficult.

The sad truth is that there are not many options out there. You pretty much have to be a stellar applicant or do some type of service scholarship (military, health service corps, etc).

I would be expecting to take out some loans.
 
Many full tuition scholarships that are merit-based are given out post interview automatically. It stands to reason that your interview must be compelling and your application well-written as this is all that they can base their decision on.

Also, remember that scholarships are intended to attract candidates who resonate with their mission and are likely competitive many places. Therefore, what makes someone competitive is what makes someone likely a scholarship recipient (although maybe in a superlative sense).

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vc7777 said:
Many full tuition scholarships that are merit-based are given out post interview automatically. It stands to reason that your interview must be compelling and your application well-written as this is all that they can base their decision on.

Also, remember that scholarships are intended to attract candidates who resonate with their mission and are likely competitive many places. Therefore, what makes someone competitive is what makes someone likely a scholarship recipient (although maybe in a superlative sense).

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In other words, you'll need a good enough application to be competitive at the very top schools to have a good shot at getting a full scholarship elsewhere. At those very top schools, merit aid is usually nonexistent.
 
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JeTeVu said:
Long time lurker, first time poster!

As I'm browsing mdapps, I see a lot of people receiving full tuition 'incentives' to go to particular medical schools.

Is there a secret? I see a lot of 40/4.0rs getting scholarships at mid-tier/low-tier medical schools...is that it?
Click to expand...

Sell your soul
 
I picked up one of these about a year ago:

http://www.amazon.com/Medical-Schoo...9573/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314498451&sr=8-1

It lists the average grant awarded for most of the schools. (Not as good overall as MSAR) As you'll see, some schools just don't hand out much money at all regardless of merit or need. I think the schools with the highest avg. grant money per student would be a good place to start looking for a full scholarship.
 
nickmx50 said:
I picked up one of these about a year ago:

http://www.amazon.com/Medical-Schoo...9573/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314498451&sr=8-1

It lists the average grant awarded for most of the schools. (Not as good overall as MSAR) As you'll see, some schools just don't hand out much money at all regardless of merit or need. I think the schools with the highest avg. grant money per student would be a good place to start looking for a full scholarship.
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LOL @ the title. "Best 168 Medical Schools," really? I think that's all of them. :laugh:

Oh, and to clarify, many if not all of the "top" schools I was referring to that don't give merit aid do take financial need into consideration in determining their financial aid packages.
 
gettheleadout said:
LOL @ the title. "Best 168 Medical Schools," really? I think that's all of them. :laugh:

Oh, and to clarify, many if not all of the "top" schools I was referring to that don't give merit aid do take financial need into consideration in determining their financial aid packages.
Click to expand...

Financial need? aren't we all in need of?:confused:
 
Some people are more equal than others.
 
vc7777 said:
Many full tuition scholarships that are merit-based are given out post interview automatically. It stands to reason that your interview must be compelling and your application well-written as this is all that they can base their decision on.

Also, remember that scholarships are intended to attract candidates who resonate with their mission and are likely competitive many places. Therefore, what makes someone competitive is what makes someone likely a scholarship recipient (although maybe in a superlative sense).
Click to expand...
Agree. Love the Crislip quote, BTW. Which part of his multimedia empire is that taken from?

OP, medical school is not like college where there is a ton of scholarship aid available. Unfortunately, there are many more qualified applicants than there are scholarships to fund them, and the vast majority of medical students do not get scholarships. Regardless of how stellar your app is, you should count on having to take out loans to fund the full amount of your cost of attendance, minus any need-based aid or family contributions you may receive.
 
CaliGirl14 said:
Financial need? aren't we all in need of?:confused:
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Some people have greater need than others. If Applicant A would be taking out $250k in loans and Applicant B would be taking out $100k in loans (possibly due to parental contribution) the school may want to even the field out to the extent they can.
Morsetlis said:
Some people are more equal than others.
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What are you referring to here?
 
QofQuimica said:
Agree. Love the Crislip quote, BTW. Which part of his multimedia empire is that taken from?

OP, medical school is not like college where there is a ton of scholarship aid available. Unfortunately, there are many more qualified applicants than there are scholarships to fund them, and the vast majority of medical students do not get scholarships. Regardless of how stellar your app is, you should count on having to take out loans to fund the full amount of your cost of attendance, minus any need-based aid or family contributions you may receive.
Click to expand...

Haha...hey Q, don't usually see you on this side of the tracks! I saw your post about needing a laundry service earlier tonight and almost did a spit-take. That was from his Gobbet O'Pus podcast. What the world needs is more Mark Crislip.

+1






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Also, just to clarify - I know for a fact that many of the top programs do give merit scholarships (I even know someone who turned down a full-tuition scholarship to one of the schools mentioned in this thread). But understand, those people are super-special snowflakes and lucky as Q pointed out.

In case you are wondering, I'm not a special snowflake and, by definition, odds are you are not one either.

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vc7777 said:
Also, just to clarify - I know for a fact that many of the top programs do give merit scholarships (I even know someone who turned down a full-tuition scholarship to one of the schools mentioned in this thread). But understand, those people are super-special snowflakes and lucky as Q pointed out.
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I'm curious, are you referring to schools that "officially" don't offer merit aid yet make special exceptions for the one-in-a-million applicant they just have to have? Or are you just saying in general that there are top programs that give merit aid?
 
gettheleadout said:
I'm curious, are you referring to schools that "officially" don't offer merit aid yet make special exceptions for the one-in-a-million applicant they just have to have? Or are you just saying in general that there are top programs that give merit aid?
Click to expand...
:shrug: I am not aware of explicit policies stating that certain programs do not give merit scholarships - on this I cannot comment. But let's just stick with generalities!
I think we have beaten this to death. :) Like Q said; don't count on being a special snowflake. It's like counting on winning the lottery to pay the rent.
 
vc7777 said:
:shrug: I am not aware of explicit policies stating that certain programs do not give merit scholarships - on this I cannot comment. But let's just stick with generalities!
I think we have beaten this to death. :) Like Q said; don't count on being a special snowflake. It's like counting on winning the lottery to pay the rent.
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I meant moreso programs that lack an explicit designation or program for merit scholarships and possibly give them out on a discretionary basis. But yes, I completely agree with the bolded.
Gigantron said:
Animal farm.
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I've actually read Animal Farm and understood the reference, I was just wondering if Morsetlis was referring to financial need among applicants or something else.
 
Just recall that almost all "full-blown" scholarships are full tuition. You'll never get a stipend unless you go the PhD route.

Correct, they're usually given to try to woo people from other institutions. There's really nothing nothing you can do that you aren't already doing (being a stellar applicant). UMich, in particular, loves offering the week before final decisions have to be made, and pride themselves on stealing kids from Ivys.
 
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HumbleMD said:
Just recall that almost all "full-blown" scholarships are full tuition. You'll never get a stipend unless you go the PhD route.

Correct, they're usually given to try to woo people from other institutions. There's really nothing nothing you can do that you aren't already doing (being a stellar applicant. UMich, in particular, loves offering the week before final decisions have to be made, and pride themselves on stealing kids from Ivys.
Click to expand...

Exactly - you'll almost certainly be paying for your living expenses, which, depending on where the school is, can be significant themselves. I'm on a "full-tuition" scholarship but will still be going six figures into debt because living in Chicago is so ridiculously expensive.
 
NickNaylor said:
Exactly - you'll almost certainly be paying for your living expenses, which, depending on where the school is, can be significant themselves. I'm on a "full-tuition" scholarship but will still be going six figures into debt because living in Chicago is so ridiculously expensive.
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Well, I hear you on no living expense, but I am sure I speak for us all when I say: We are all very lucky. To be clear: nobody is griping about the full-tuition scholarships! :smuggrin:

HumbleMD said:
Just recall that almost all "full-blown" scholarships are full tuition. You'll never get a stipend unless you go the PhD route.
Click to expand...

Buuut.....this isn't entirely true. I know someone who got the whole shebang. That is, the mythical "full-ride". She is not URM either, for those wondering. And yes, she is a special snowflake.
 
vc7777 said:
Well, I hear you on no living expense, but I am sure I speak for us all when I say: We are all very lucky. To be clear: nobody is griping about the full-tuition scholarships! :smuggrin:
Click to expand...

No doubt, however a "full scholarship" as used in the undergrad sense is essentially a fantasy in medical school.
 
JeTeVu said:
Long time lurker, first time poster!

As I'm browsing mdapps, I see a lot of people receiving full tuition 'incentives' to go to particular medical schools.

Is there a secret? I see a lot of 40/4.0rs getting scholarships at mid-tier/low-tier medical schools...is that it?
Click to expand...


Can you pass for Black or Hispanic? Might as well ride that minority train.
 
unless you are a URM, you must have opened an orphanage in Bolivia while the drug commandos were eating your legs...;)
 
I'm sorry if this is not so obvious, but gotta ask: does ECs play a role in deciding whether someone will get full scholarship? Or could it be that ECs are regular but GPA and MCAT are fantastic (4.0/40)? Do I have to win a Nobel, for example? (j/k for the last part).
 
...
 
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imer said:
Hard worker, resilience, a personality that doesn't scare or suffocate others, leader, creative problem solver, goal oriented, relentless, nice smile. Pick a couple and do well on the MCAT and GPA and your in med school. Have more than four of them in buckets, kill the MCAT and GPA, and demonstrate them - you're competitve for a scholarship. Honestly, I know many who have gotten half to full tuition scholarships - none of them crawled in the back door, or got their name pulled out of a hat - they busted their @@s.

Special snowflakes are made. If you want to be competitive for them you have to work toward it, 'cause it doesn't just happen. This includes whether or not you are a minority, all you haters.
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:thumbup:

To address other questions, there is some game playing to be done as well. It helps to have multiple acceptances at top tier programs. Often a lesser program will try to woo you away with full tuition scholarship, or the (deep-pocketted) top-tier schools use them to keep competetive applicants there.

There's nothing to do but be a competitive applicant. The scholarships come for the same reason as acceptances, which is very rarely luck.
 
HumbleMD said:
:thumbup:

To address other questions, there is some game playing to be done as well. It helps to have multiple acceptances at top tier programs. Often a lesser program will try to woo you away with full tuition scholarship, or the (deep-pocketted) top-tier schools use them to keep competetive applicants there.

There's nothing to do but be a competitive applicant. The scholarships come for the same reason as acceptances, which is very rarely luck.
Click to expand...
A very nice summation. :thumbup:
 
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