Is it possible to get a Scholarship as a...

[grimace]

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...white middle-upper class male?

Okay, please hear me out on this. I would like to preface this by stating that in no way am I prejudiced against people of any race or creed, and I feel that for many people this is a completely legitimate question.

As I'm sure many of you know, Dental Schools offer a variety of scholarships. They have quite a large range as far as what they are offered for, from minority scholarships to simple merit based scholarships. At my school, there are also a multitude of grants given out on a small level (a few grand) from the state dental society. The point here is that there is a lot of money to go around, even if it's only a small amount.

As a middle to upper class white male, I feel completely frustrated in the fact that I don't think I will ever be awarded any of that money because of my demographics. The scholarships are pretty much solely given out to either minorities or women. My application looks as good as anyone else's who can apply, as I have a 3.9 GPA so far in dental school, and am extremely active within the school outside of class and class offices.

It's ironic to me. Scholarships are given out for a large part to help people that are "disadvantaged". But when it comes down to it, in the end, the only people who end up with a disadvantage are those in my category as far as tuition is concerned. At the end of my 4 years of education, I will be in the most debt from tuition of anyone in my class, even though I am supposedly at the biggest advantage.

On my application this year for these scholarships, I seriously considered writing something to this effect, so I can save them the time of making me think I might actually be rewarded for my hard work and effort. Please, don't misunderstand this post. I would not like this thread to be hijacked into a discussion of race or anything like that. I would just like to know if any other students in my shoes have experienced anything similar.

 

[scandalouslj]

I can see your plight. But I am in the same shoes as you. I am Asian. Amd Asians arent seen as minorities in college. even though they are in the US. So we really have no adavantage either. And kids that have half my stats will have half the debt I will when I end school, just becuase my parents make a litttle more, even though my parents arent helping me pay for any of it.

 

[grimace]

Yeah I forgot that point. It should be a null point how much my parents make, as I am 24 and don't get any money from my retired parents.

 

[gryffindor]

Yes, there is a scholarship for you. It's called the ADA Dental Student Scholarship. Two students are selected from each dental school to apply for the schloarship by July 31 after their first year of dental school. I think the ADA gives out 20 or 25 of them (I forget, look it up). You have to be a US citizen, entering your second year and a minimum of 3.0 GPA. It is for $2500. However, you've already missed the deadline for it, so sorry.

And don't complain about minorities b/c the ADA has a separate scholarship for them. The students who were recipients of the ADA Dental Student Scholarship in recent years from my school were all white uppper middle class males.

Our school gives out some small scholarships each year that you have to apply for (between $500 - $2000). Many recipients are white upper middle class males. But it's not always the students with the 3.9 GPAs that win them. You have to be involved, make a difference, and still maintain a respectable GPA. But, they also give out merit scholarships based strictly on class rank. The top 20 get a certain dollar amount (like $1500) just because of their GPA, nothing else. The top 5 or 6 get an additional amount of money (like $1000) on top of that. I'm not sure why you are so bitter about the scholarships for dental students. No organization offering a scholarship is going to hand you over a check just because you spent your time in first year studying to earn a great GPA in dental school. I really don't think there are that many outside scholarships out there.

I don't know where you go to school or how much debt you'll be in, but that extra $3000 from some state dental society isn't really going to make a dent in your loans. So I wouldn't worry too much about the scholarships if you don't win them. Because outside of the navy/army/air force/etc scholarships, I'm not aware of any scholarship for dental students based solely on merit & involvement with few strings attached (b/c the armed forces have lots of strings attached to that $$$) that would substantially reduce the amount of debt you are going to have.

 

[grimace]

griffin-

You make several incorrect assumptions about my post, ie that I have only finished 1 year of school, and that I am bitter.

I was solely posting to see if anyone else in my situation has dealt with a similar frustration that I was having. Dental schools are all different and it's not fair to generalize things from your school and think that they apply to the one that I attend. I didn't complain about minorities, I simply stated the situation at my school.

I never stated that I expected to just be handed a check, nor did I say that just because I had a good GPA I expected one. Obviously, just like the admissions process, the factors that determine who gets what are many and it would be naive to think the process is one-dimensional. Had you read my post, I stated that I am extremely active in class offices and school. I did not think it was necessary to type up my CV in order to provide an understanding of my frustrations.

I'm sorry, maybe 2 or 3,000 dollars may not mean much to you in light of the 100 thousand of debt someone may be in, but to me it would be a huge help in daily living. My question, however, was less about the financial aspect and more about the priciples behind it.

I appreciate your feedback about the ADA scholarship. It was helpful and I'm sorry to have missed that deadline. In the future, try not to take my posts for much more than lies on the surface. I think it's pretty dumb to assume my feelings based on 1 internet post on a messageboard.

 

[ehop24]

grimace, you hit an open nerve over here. i'm sort of in the same boat. it frustrates me to consider the situation. when it comes time to apply for the scholarships, i pretty much just pass on it now.

i'm from a middle class white family. i worked hard to make sure i didnt have undergraduate debt. my scores and acheivements are just like those of 75% of my classmates. i think that supporting minorities and the disadvantaged is a great idea. but it seems to me that the same people continue to get all of the scholarship money. it's the people at both extremes: the financially strapped and the overacheivers.

please dont think i want the system changed, because many/most of those people deserve the support.

personally, i just had to come to terms with the way things are. hey, i had planned on paying for all of my school anyway. but it's no fun to be left out when the checks come in.

oh well.

just have a little pity for the guy in the middle of the road.

 

[UBTom]

I'm of a minority ethnicity, but I'm not getting any scholarships because of it. So what if I will owe $150K by the time I graduate. I know I will be able to pay that back and still make a good living once I got my DDS degree and my license to practice in hand.

Those private foundations and entities which administer those scholarships have a right to decide who they want to award their private money to. I'm not frustrated at all that I'm not getting some scholarships because of my demographics-- On the contrary, I feel satisfaction that I can succeed by pulling my own weight.

Once you start making your living as a dentist, you will see that two or three thousand dollars is a mere drop in the bucket.

 

[gryffindor]

Originally posted by grimace
and am extremely active within the school outside of class and class offices

OK, I'll give you this, I missed this part of your post. I know every school doesn't award scholarships the same way. I'm not that naive. But if your school is only offering scholarships to those who are female or a minority, then yes, I could understand you'd be frustrated because you probably have worked very hard to be where you are and would like to be rewarded too.

I'm not trying to pick a fight. I guess I feel like ehop about minority scholarships - I've just come to terms with it, even if it is based on their race. I was an applicant for the ADA scholarship and I will admit that it seemed a little strange at the time that although I was applying for the merit-based scholarship, they offered a minority-based version as well. But, like ehop said, there probably is someone out there who actually deserves that money, even if it is based on their race.

If you are just talking about scholarships at your school, could it be that those women/minority scholarships are being offered b/c of the demographics at your school/state? Maybe the people behind that money feel this might be a way to bring more women/minorities into that area. (Again, I am assuming this. If not, then yes, it doesn't feel very fair). If you are referring to national scholarships, I'm not aware of that many available to apply for (outside of the armed forces). I just stopped looking once I got to dental school because it always seemed like national scholarships were only for undergrad.

 

[grimace]

Ehop, it's funny that I hit an open nerve since I believe we attend the same state institution...go figure

 

[tinker bell]

I know ucsf never talks about their money aspect during orientation or interview/ recruiting. But the money they give out to all of their students seem to be evenly distributed, not base on GPA or scores.

I heard that most of my younger single classmates (if their parents are not outrageously rich) got about 9-10K from ucsf's grant. I make descend money, own a house, and I got about 22K from my belove school. It's just plain free and it's covered half of my annual total expenses here. To tell all of you the truth, I was quite shock when I saw my FA statement. On average student graduates from ucsf owes about 70K.

If your school is not a well funded public school. I really do not know what to say or any idea to help you. And if you fall for some recruiting trap (like they give you 20K or 40K to attend their 250K school) that's still a rip off, not a bargain.

If you are not in any school yet, choose wisely. If you are already in, just close your eyes and hipnotize yourself not to think of debt, try to graduate and work hard.

Good luck