Medical Schools Bidding Wars?!?!

[172858]

So, I have quite a few acquaintances who, being accepted to multiple schools, got the financial aid packages of each school they were accepted to and used them as leverage to garner more financial incentives (grants, scholarships, etc) from a particular school or set of schools. Is this a common practice? Has anyone else heard of or done this?

I, myself, thought this was BS until I happened to experience it personally. When withdrawing from school A by phone, I was immediately transferred to the Dean of Admissions. I told him that I was withdrawing, thanks and all, yada yada yada, and that I would be matriculating to school B. When he asked me why, I was honest and told him of several reasons, one of which was the generous fin aid package that made school B much more affordable than I had ever anticipated.

His response was "Hold that withdrawal, and let me get back to you." Then, BOOM, four days later I get some random 4-year merit scholarship letter in the mail. Didn't matter - still didn't go. But I thought this was odd.

But apparently, this sort of thing happens all the time?

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[HumidBeing]

Yes, it does happen. That's often the reason that people don't just automatically drop other acceptances once they get one to a school they prefer. They wait to see what financial aid packages will be offered. When a school knows that it's your only choice, they have less incentive to offer you aid.

I don't know how frequently it 'works', but I know that it does happen.

 

[186321]

I was told by one dean of admissions to let him know if I got into any other med school because they would start a bidding war. So it must happen.

 

[flip26]

Yes, it does happen. That's often the reason that people don't just automatically drop other acceptances once they get one to a school they prefer. They wait to see what financial aid packages will be offered. When a school knows that it's your only choice, they have less incentive to offer you aid.

I don't know how frequently it 'works', but I know that it does happen.

Absolutely agree with this. Every time I see one of these threads about how people with multiple acceptances should drop them ASAP (before May 15) to "give waitlisters a chance" I laugh.

 

[Jolie South]

i withdrew from 4 schools without a peep.

while this does happen for many people, it's not always the case.

 

[bodonid]

I withdrew ages ago and I still got a merit scholarship last week. I don't know why, and don't care... I'm just happy!

 

[FetalDoc]

Wish I knew,I had a couple of acceptances and withdrew from all but my first choice out of them and when financial aid came I got nothing. I figured money won't be that much of an issue until I actually saw how much in loans I will be paying. Well You live and you learn. Money is somewhat of a major issue.

 

[172858]

i withdrew from 4 schools without a peep.

while this does happen for many people, it's not always the case.

However, you DID get into Baylor - the cheapest perennial top 10 school in the history of the human race. I would gladly trade placed with you or TheRealMD. My first year is 62K, total. So I HAD to get some nice fin aid... lol

 

[iluvpuppies]

For the record though:

it really depends on the school. although it does happen, do not count on it happening, even if you have multiple acceptances. I met with ppl at a some schools who were very clear that they would NOT match or top any other schools offers. It depends on where u are looking. In general though, if your on financial aid, a lot of my friends and I got what ultimately amounted to very similar tutition totals from various accepts bc they have similar formulas for determining need.

 

[gujuDoc]

So, I have quite a few acquaintances who, being accepted to multiple schools, got the financial aid packages of each school they were accepted to and used them as leverage to garner more financial incentives (grants, scholarships, etc) from a particular school or set of schools. Is this a common practice? Has anyone else heard of or done this?

I, myself, thought this was BS until I happened to experience it personally. When withdrawing from school A by phone, I was immediately transferred to the Dean of Admissions. I told him that I was withdrawing, thanks and all, yada yada yada, and that I would be matriculating to school B. When he asked me why, I was honest and told him of several reasons, one of which was the generous fin aid package that made school B much more affordable than I had ever anticipated.

His response was "Hold that withdrawal, and let me get back to you." Then, BOOM, four days later I get some random 4-year merit scholarship letter in the mail. Didn't matter - still didn't go. But I thought this was odd.

But apparently, this sort of thing happens all the time?

Yes it does happen. I know at least one person on SDN with multiple full scholarship offers when they applied. One school even wanted to throw their withdrawal out the window but they didn't end up going to that school because other non financial reasons since the financial offer from that school was same as one of their higher up choices.

 

[inkare]

Can you try to get more financial aid from a school you were accepted off the waitlist if you already holding an acceptance?

It seems to me since you got off the waitlist, you weren't their top choice applicant, so they are less likely to give you more financial aid, right ?

 

[flip26]

Can you try to get more financial aid from a school you were accepted off the waitlist if you already holding an acceptance?

It seems to me since you got off the waitlist, you weren't their top choice applicant, so they are less likely to give you more financial aid, right ?

Actually, there are plenty of people reporting waitlist acceptances with substantial financial aid offered - one way to think of it is that when others turn down a school, assuming they had been offered grants, that amount of aid is available to offer to the waitlist acceptees.

 

[DoctorDreamer]

Can you try to get more financial aid from a school you were accepted off the waitlist if you already holding an acceptance?

It seems to me since you got off the waitlist, you weren't their top choice applicant, so they are less likely to give you more financial aid, right ?

You know, I figured this, too, but I got into four schools off the waitlist, and three of which I looked at their finaid packages... You know what happened?

The school I was holding gave me an additional $3k in scholarships (on top of the $10K they had already offered.

They did that because second school I got into gave me a $19K scholarship/grant.

Then came schools 3, 4 (withdrew), and 5.

School 5 wrote yesterday and offered at $12K/year scholarship. School 3 called this morning with a $30,500 scholarship... Which is most likely renewable.

Now, some of this is merit based, and some is need-based, but the point is, there is definitely aid out there, and you CAN get it coming off the waitlist.

 

[MonsterAddict]

How do you even go about playing this game? I havnt applied yet, but i like the sound of getting more money. How good do you really need to be before you start negotiating? Do yall think i good get a good scholarship with a 3.75/33 mcat, cause i dont know if i could do it without some money.

 

[nevercold]

As someone else said, there are some schools that specifically don't do this. Duke (my school) does not engage in bidding wars. They assess how much money they can put into financial aid and scholarships and make an intentional effort to offer all they can up front to students. They don't believe in holding back. I'm a bit suspicious of schools that wouldn't try to help out their students if they could, just because they didn't have to get into a bidding game.

 

[decafplease]

I was told by one dean of admissions to let him know if I got into any other med school because they would start a bidding war. So it must happen.

God, I wish I didn't live in California.

 

[bawer234]

Does anyone know if schools can see the financial aid packages that other colleges have offered you?

 

[TheRealMD]

However, you DID get into Baylor - the cheapest perennial top 10 school in the history of the human race. I would gladly trade placed with you or TheRealMD. My first year is 62K, total. So I HAD to get some nice fin aid... lol

My name precedes me.

 

[notdeadyet]

it really depends on the school. although it does happen, do not count on it happening, even if you have multiple acceptances.

Not only does it depend on the school, it much more so depends on you.

Keep in mind that SDN tends to skew towards the high end of the curve. Just because everyone and his brother on SDN seems to be getting big scholarships doesn't make it the norm.

For most applicants, you can sit on multiple acceptances as long as you want and you won't get a signle dollar more. For some of the beautiful people, it turns into a bidding war. For most of us mere mortals, they'll hear your pitch, then say, "Sorry, no more money. Do you still want that seat?"

Again, go for it. Nothing venture nothing gained. But don't feel bad if your attempts at a bidding war yield nothing. That's what normally happens.

 

[45408]

Not only does it depend on the school, it much more so depends on you.

Keep in mind that SDN tends to skew towards the high end of the curve. Just because everyone and his brother on SDN seems to be getting big scholarships doesn't make it the norm.

No kidding.

 

[ChiDoc27]

I didn't know this happened at the med school level, but I had the same thing happen at my undergrad school. I got accepted to my first choice and then another school (school b). School b offered me a LOT more money, so I called up my first choice and let them know the situation. A week later I sent in my deposit for my first choice since they matched school b's offer. Here's to hoping that history repeats itself.

 

[LizzyM]

Keep in mind that a school admitting you from the wait list needs to fill a seat. If they need to sweeten the pot to attract someone, and they have the means, they will do so. Besides, as has been pointed out, if they offered big bucks to a superstar who turned them down, those bucks can be offered to you, the lowly waitlister.

 

[Dedikated2liftn]

Not only does it depend on the school, it much more so depends on you.

Keep in mind that SDN tends to skew towards the high end of the curve. Just because everyone and his brother on SDN seems to be getting big scholarships doesn't make it the norm.

For most applicants, you can sit on multiple acceptances as long as you want and you won't get a signle dollar more. For some of the beautiful people, it turns into a bidding war. For most of us mere mortals, they'll hear your pitch, then say, "Sorry, no more money. Do you still want that seat?"

Again, go for it. Nothing venture nothing gained. But don't feel bad if your attempts at a bidding war yield nothing. That's what normally happens.

Yeah, well that makes me feel a little bitter about giving up my two acceptances and not seeing a penny more in fin. aid.

 

[respect]

hi, I am currently a 4th year bs biology student from the Philippines. And I am really planning to go to med school. And it has always been a dream to me to be able to study abroad.

Are there suggestions on how I could be able to attend to my dream of becoming a doctor? Need some scholarships?

Thanks

 

[xrevision]

Take the pre-reqs, take the mcat, apply and pray.

 

[respect]

Where will I take mcat? What schools do you suggest where I can be able to go to a med school abroad and will give me some scholarships?
Need some help
Thanks

 

[Wordead]

Where will I take mcat? What schools do you suggest where I can be able to go to a med school abroad and will give me some scholarships?
Need some help
Thanks

Realistically, you'd be lucky to get in any US allopathic school, much less get a scholarship. There's a very strong preference for US citizens/perm. residents. I don't know about other countries; they might be more open to foreign students.

 

[gujuDoc]

Realistically, you'd be lucky to get in any US allopathic school, much less get a scholarship. There's a very strong preference for US citizens/perm. residents. I don't know about other countries; they might be more open to foreign students.

Precisely. The people who get scholarships are those who actually are at the very creme de la creme of medical school applicants.

Only a small handful of schools take non greencard holders/non citizens and they are usually the more competitive schools that are as such.

You'd be lucky to get in a school in the US.

 

[respect]

Precisely. The people who get scholarships are those who actually are at the very creme de la creme of medical school applicants.

Only a small handful of schools take non greencard holders/non citizens and they are usually the more competitive schools that are as such.

You'd be lucky to get in a school in the US.

well, what do you think is the best med school for us international students?

 

[doomknight]

Harvard Medical School

if you were Korean and lost one of your legs, or if you won over $500,000 at vegas, you might be able to get a scholarship

 

[LizzyM]

well, what do you think is the best med school for us international students?

Unless you have attended a US or Canadian college/university for your BS/BA AND you have a ton of cash lying around, you'd be best off to attend medical school "at home" and try to get to the US as an International Medical Graduate (IMG) and do a residency here. There are more residency slots than there are US grads so some slots go to IMG.

 

[Dulcina]

do schools know if you've gotten an acceptance at another US allo school? or do they only find out when you tell them

 

[LizzyM]

do schools know if you've gotten an acceptance at another US allo school? or do they only find out when you tell them

There is a point late in the cycle (Spring) when every school that has made you an offer can see what other offers you've received.