Medical School Scholarships

[baltimoreman]

How do medical schools determine who gets scholarships? Is it generally the people with the best stats (GPA and MCAT), or something else?

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[AestheticGod]

How do medical schools determine who gets scholarships? Is it generally the people with the best stats (GPA and MCAT), or something else?

I would think there's too many scholarships out there to give you a straight answer. Usually the scholarships has prereqs that you have to meet. First find the scholarship and see what the prereqs are. If you still don't know, then ask us. But there's literally a crap load of scholarships out there, and for a wide variety of things. A lot of unis give scholarships based on need mostly. If you're from a low income family, you'll have a higher chance of getting a scholarships. and then there are also scholarships for high end students with high stats/grades.

 

[Nymphicus]

There are both merit and need based scholarships. Some schools do not offer merit scholarships. Regardless, scholarship is much, much rarer in medical school than in undergrad. The large majority of students who don't have parents paying for them take out the full amount, or close to the full amount, in unsubsidized Stafford loans at 6.8% interest.

 

[NickNaylor]

For schools that offer merit scholarships, it's generally the most "qualified" or "desirable" applicants. What constitutes "qualified" and "desirable" will vary to some extent from school to school. Do some perusing on SDN to get an idea of which schools are particularly friendly with merit scholarships. In general, though, high numbers, strong ECs, and something about you specifically that makes a school want you will all contribute to your chances of getting a merit scholarship.

Need-based are obviously just that.