NHSC Scholarship Program 2011

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Oooh, that is good news! Congrats :)

Members don't see this ad.
 
I got a call from my advisor, who got a call from NHSC for clarification of my enrollment status..

Was there something unique going on with your enrollment?
 
I believe NHSC stated on the application that at some point during the review process, they will verified good academic standing with the applicant's program.

I hope we hear from them soon! All this waiting... ahhh. Anxious. It's like med school applications all over again! Gah!
 
Members don't see this ad :)
I believe NHSC stated on the application that at some point during the review process, they will verified good academic standing with the applicant's program.

I hope we hear from them soon! All this waiting... ahhh. Anxious. It's like med school applications all over again! Gah!

Definitely - that would make sense since it's a requirement for the scholarship. If you just started your program, they just probably need to verify that you did indeed enroll and begin classes...here's hoping we all hear good news :)
 
Hi everyone,
So, because I love to procrastinate, I was reviewing the program guidelines that were made available with the application earlier this year. The last FAQ mentioned in the guidelines stated:

"Only applicants being awarded NHSC scholarships will be requested to submit banking information."

So, according to the guidelines released months ago, I think its an EXCELLENT indication that those of us who received finalist emails will be awarded.

It's keeping me calm until we hear final word :)
 
Hi everyone,
So, because I love to procrastinate, I was reviewing the program guidelines that were made available with the application earlier this year. The last FAQ mentioned in the guidelines stated:

"Only applicants being awarded NHSC scholarships will be requested to submit banking information."

So, according to the guidelines released months ago, I think its an EXCELLENT indication that those of us who received finalist emails will be awarded.

It's keeping me calm until we hear final word :)

That's great news! But, if you ask me, I am nervous but hopeful!:xf:
 
Here are the full quotes:

NOTIFICATION OF AN AWARD
Individuals selected for awards will be notified by email/letter no later than September 30, 2011. To accept the award, an applicant must respond by the deadline in the notice of award email/letter. If the applicant does not respond to the NHSC SP by that deadline, the offer of award expires and will be offered to an alternate. Applicants who respond by the deadline will be asked to sign the NHSC SP contract, complete the online banking form for direct deposit, and complete the W-4 form.
 
Hi everyone,
So, because I love to procrastinate, I was reviewing the program guidelines that were made available with the application earlier this year. The last FAQ mentioned in the guidelines stated:

"Only applicants being awarded NHSC scholarships will be requested to submit banking information."

So, according to the guidelines released months ago, I think its an EXCELLENT indication that those of us who received finalist emails will be awarded.

It's keeping me calm until we hear final word :)

I think you are right on track with that thought! It's only a matter of time befroe we all "finalists" hear the good news!!

I'm glad my advisor was just as excited as I was when she heard from the NHSC analyst who needed to confirm my full time student status, so she couldnt help but share a "congratulations" with me eventhough as she stated, "it's really not my job to tell you this, but....."
 
Website's back up!

"Your overall Application Status is: Final Review"

Glad I was so anxious about it being down, haha.
 
Yeah, that weekend of anxiety worked well for me, too. Says the exact same thing as it did before it went down.
 
Congratulations to those of you who got finalist emails! 120 scholarships / 6,000 applicants = 2%, so you must be doing something right.

I guess I'll keep my fingers crossed that the third time's the charm in 2012... although I feel sort of bad asking my advisor to write another lengthy LoR for something that seems so bleak :(
 
How did you find out how many scholarships were awarded?? Are they sending out award notices?
 
So, after giving up hope I'd get the scholarship, I got an email today from an analyst that stated they tried to email out acceptances a few days ago (maybe friday?) but that a lot of people didn't get that email. If I was still interested in the scholarship, I was to send back the following information, bank, W4, etc. I was also to indicate in the portal that I was interested.

I called the analyst to confirm, and she said that what had happened was that of the original people they awarded, "a lot" were not interested anymore and were going to check out the loan repayment (not sure why they would do that), and so that opened spots for 22 more people she said. I asked if I had 5 days to think about it and she said not really, but that I had till Tuesday to let her know. Then she asked what I was leaning towards.

Anyway, congrats to the others that received a notice. And it looks as though they are awarding, seeing who accepts, and then awarding more. There is still hope:)
 
Members don't see this ad :)
So, after giving up hope I'd get the scholarship, I got an email today from an analyst that stated they tried to email out acceptances a few days ago (maybe friday?) but that a lot of people didn't get that email. If I was still interested in the scholarship, I was to send back the following information, bank, W4, etc. I was also to indicate in the portal that I was interested.

I called the analyst to confirm, and she said that what had happened was that of the original people they awarded, "a lot" were not interested anymore and were going to check out the loan repayment (not sure why they would do that), and so that opened spots for 22 more people she said. I asked if I had 5 days to think about it and she said not really, but that I had till Tuesday to let her know. Then she asked what I was leaning towards.

Anyway, congrats to the others that received a notice. And it looks as though they are awarding, seeing who accepts, and then awarding more. There is still hope:)

Very cool. Thanks for letting us know, and congratulations!
 
How did you find out how many scholarships were awarded?? Are they sending out award notices?
The numbers I posted (120/6000) were from this thread, not from any official NHSC source. Last year, the rejection email looked like this:
October 5, 2010
Dear NHSC Scholarship Applicant,
Thank you for your expression of interest in serving the nations medically underserved by applying for the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) scholarship program. We regret to inform you that you have not been selected. We appreciate the time and effort you spent completing the application to receive a 2010 NHSC Scholarship and encourage you to apply next year should you remain eligible for the program.
Competition for the NHSC scholarship was very high this year. We received over 6,400 applications, however available funding could only support 207 new scholarship awards. If you wish to reapply, please visit our website at http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/nursing/scholarship for updates and application information for the 2011 application cycle.

(bold emphasis my own)


A faculty member at my school who is connected with the NHSC told me that funding for the scholarship program diminished again this year. A poster in this thread has corroborated that information as well. I do not know if 120 is accurate or not, but there will certainly be fewer scholarships awarded than last year.
 
So, after giving up hope I'd get the scholarship, I got an email today from an analyst that stated they tried to email out acceptances a few days ago (maybe friday?) but that a lot of people didn't get that email. If I was still interested in the scholarship, I was to send back the following information, bank, W4, etc. I was also to indicate in the portal that I was interested.

I called the analyst to confirm, and she said that what had happened was that of the original people they awarded, "a lot" were not interested anymore and were going to check out the loan repayment (not sure why they would do that), and so that opened spots for 22 more people she said. I asked if I had 5 days to think about it and she said not really, but that I had till Tuesday to let her know. Then she asked what I was leaning towards.

Anyway, congrats to the others that received a notice. And it looks as though they are awarding, seeing who accepts, and then awarding more. There is still hope:)

Did anyone receive a notice that they were awarded a few days ago? I'm a little confused, does this mean that being a finalist did NOT mean that we got the award, or that the finalist email that had us send in the banking, W4 info, etc. was essentially an award if we said we were still interested? Has anyone contacted NHSC regarding if we should have heard back by now? I'm always at school during their office hours...
 
Last edited:
Did anyone receive a notice that they were awarded a few days ago? I'm a little confused, does this mean that being a finalist did NOT mean that we got the award, or that the finalist email that had us send in the banking, W4 info, etc. was essentially an award if we said we were still interested? Has anyone contacted NHSC regarding if we should have heard back by now? I'm always at school during their office hours...

Interesting - kind of sounds like they only contacted potential awardees with the finalist e-mail instead of contacting a large pool of people that was greater than the amount of awards they have...at least that's what it seems like from the previous posts, since they're now calling additonal people to see if they're interested in the award!

It also seems like the analyst might have been refering to finalists when they mentioned that people turned down the 'award'....because why would someone complete all of the requirements mentioned in the finalist e-mail, and then decide that they no longer wanted it...all in a span of one week - doesn't make sense IMHO.

I might be wrong, might be right...I guess ST1977 will have to keep us in the loop since we know that he/she is definitely in the running for an award since they called their school! So, ST1977 please let us know if you get an e-mail or letter in the mail :) Thx!
 
Last edited:
I haven't heard anything! Still anxiously awaiting confirmation. But, I'm feeling really confident for all of us finalists. I tried contacting NHSC to see if they got my faxed materials, but it was a no go, they said they couldn't say anything.

On the positive side ... its September! We're supposed to hear back sometime this month. If anyone hears anything, please keep updating!
 
Check, check for me! This is what I wrote then:

I think if everyone of the finalists have expressed an interest in the scholarship and faxed in their contracts and stuffs, it would be the end of the process. All would been awarded the scholarship. However, if a few of these finalists have cold feet, then they would go down their unpublished "waitinglist" and offered them the opening spot.

I think they want to see how many people would accept their offer before making it officially! Strange way to do business but I understand them and it makes sense. Say, i chose you as a recipient for this scholarship. However, despite my repeated calls/emails to you, you did not reply. In the meantime, I have other people waiting, people that I can offer your spot if you decline. I would have been frustrated because you're holding the process up. For one, I am not sure if you don't have access to my emails or you're simply ignoring me since you no longer interested in this scholarship. So, I think this year they have a different strategy, one where the putative recipient has to be proactive. They give you just 5 days and if they don't hear from you, they assume that you are not interested as oppose to play the waiting game!


...and Notsosuperman confirms my assumption!!! He is a member of the secret waiting-list that I was talking about! lol

So, after giving up hope I'd get the scholarship, I got an email today from an analyst that stated they tried to email out acceptances a few days ago (maybe friday?) but that a lot of people didn't get that email. If I was still interested in the scholarship, I was to send back the following information, bank, W4, etc. I was also to indicate in the portal that I was interested.

I called the analyst to confirm, and she said that what had happened was that of the original people they awarded, "a lot" were not interested anymore and were going to check out the loan repayment (not sure why they would do that), and so that opened spots for 22 more people she said. I asked if I had 5 days to think about it and she said not really, but that I had till Tuesday to let her know. Then she asked what I was leaning towards.

Anyway, congrats to the others that received a notice. And it looks as though they are awarding, seeing who accepts, and then awarding more. There is still hope:)
 
Another check for me, again! I predicted that they would send the acceptance email last Friday!!! However, we did not receive anything. Considering that the website was down since Friday and wasn't back on until yesterday (wed), maybe there was a computer glitch!

However, if there was a computer glitch, why didn't they resend the email again? I am confused....

So, after giving up hope I'd get the scholarship, I got an email today from an analyst that stated they tried to email out acceptances a few days ago (maybe friday?) but that a lot of people didn't get that email.
 
Last edited:
Since a few people received that "acceptance" email last week. Did we have any SDN member that received such email last Friday???
 
It is my understanding that "acceptance" emails have not been sent out yet. Only "finalist" emails were sent out almost 2 weeks ago. Can anyone clarify...

All the best to everyone :luck:
 
Robu, I think when the analyst said "acceptance" she meant finalist. I think your first theory was correct, that all of the finalists are awardees, if we choose. Maybe the analyst slipped and said "awardee" to superman... at least, that's what I'm HOPING ... (nervous giggle)
 
Does anyone know of anyone that was a finalist and did not get an award?
 
Does anyone know of anyone that was a finalist and did not get an award?

From searching this forum extensively, I haven't found a post in previous years where someone was a finalist and did not receive the award.
 
From searching this forum extensively, I haven't found a post in previous years where someone was a finalist and did not receive the award.

Also, one of the 2010 scholars posted on the NHSC FB page that she didn't know of any finalist who was turned down for the scholarship (during her cycle.)
 
From everything the analyst told me and sent me, and from everything I've heard and seen from the past years, I think it is almost a guarantee that being a "finalist" is synonymous with being an "awardee." If anything has been the trend with NHSC scholarships, it is that people who are unaware that they were selected for the scholarship getting a large bank deposit in November. I think the problem is they use the term "finalist" to cover their butts just in case something happens that they can't award all scholarships (someone says they didn't receive the email but they have already told someone else they are a finalist, something like that). However, it seems they have failed to actually finalize with people that they actually are recipients.

I'm not sure what everyone else has on their NHSC portal but it says "Notified of Award - Awaiting Response." Seems rather final to me.

On another note, after rereading my email, I noticed that there was no actual PDFs attached, just pictures of pdf icons. There was another email sent that was the forward of a a return fax that was a recipient from Aug 20 saying that there were no attachments. So... seems like they are having a little trouble with attachments. I'll have to call or email tomorrow. I'll see if I can get some info on what our actual status is. The analyst was very nice, so I'll see what she lets me know.
 
With my super-sleuthing skills, I have been checking this site, the NHSC facebook group and allnurses.com (yes, it is a different scholarship with different deadline and apparently they get a credit check and maybe some other differences). The nurses were supposed to hear by today and the same kind of process went down with a "finalist" email and now there is even more anxiety, and some hostility, on that thread.

I agree with Atticus and Inngu that there is no evidence that finalists have not gotten awards in years past. I did not receive an email on Friday August 26, but I did get one on Friday August 19. My status still says "final review". I don't know if they contacted my school or not but I did get that phone call from Frank from NHSC last Wednesday and he told me we'd hear by "late" this week. I know they were going to tell us by September 31 but I sure would love to cancel the giant loans that just disbursed for this semester without accruing too much interest.

I am cautiously optimistic that I will see you at the awardee conference.
 
With my super-sleuthing skills, I have been checking this site, the NHSC facebook group and allnurses.com (yes, it is a different scholarship with different deadline and apparently they get a credit check and maybe some other differences). The nurses were supposed to hear by today and the same kind of process went down with a "finalist" email and now there is even more anxiety, and some hostility, on that thread.

I agree with Atticus and Inngu that there is no evidence that finalists have not gotten awards in years past. I did not receive an email on Friday August 26, but I did get one on Friday August 19. My status still says "final review". I don't know if they contacted my school or not but I did get that phone call from Frank from NHSC last Wednesday and he told me we'd hear by "late" this week. I know they were going to tell us by September 31 but I sure would love to cancel the giant loans that just disbursed for this semester without accruing too much interest.

I am cautiously optimistic that I will see you at the awardee conference.

Whew... Mine says "Final Review" as well. Thank goodness you posted this, I think my BP shot up by quite a bit after Superman's post of "Notified of Award - Awaiting Response"
 
Whew... Mine says "Final Review" as well. Thank goodness you posted this, I think my BP shot up by quite a bit after Superman's post of "Notified of Award - Awaiting Response"

I haven't accepted it online in the portal, so I wonder if after I do so, it will say Final Review as well. Did you guys have the same "Notified of Award - Awaiting Response" when you first got the email?
 
I haven't accepted it online in the portal, so I wonder if after I do so, it will say Final Review as well. Did you guys have the same "Notified of Award - Awaiting Response" when you first got the email?

Oh..right you are. It probably said that. To be honest, I don't remember as I didn't spend too much time thinking about it before I accepted, hehe.
 
I haven't accepted it online in the portal, so I wonder if after I do so, it will say Final Review as well. Did you guys have the same "Notified of Award - Awaiting Response" when you first got the email?

I didn't look at mine, either. To be honest, I was half an hour from leaving my job of 6.5 years and didn't look at much about the scholarship. I quickly ran through the 5 steps and didn't notice what it said. It has been "Final Review" ever since.
 
The notification on the NHSC portal for those who received the August 19th email was to either "Confirm or Decline your interest in the 2011 National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Scholarship Program." We did not get the same one as Notsosuperman did.

Let's not panic! It might be that they change the wording as to create less confusion!

PS: my status still says "Final Review"
 
Last edited:
I didn't look at mine, either. To be honest, I was half an hour from leaving my job of 6.5 years

What a way to finish off your job! It is one of those things that you would never forget!
 
Last edited:
My status still says Final Review. Leonid, its amazing you got to speak to someone! I hope they do notify pretty soon.
 
Both my friend and I noticed that our apps said "notified of award-awaiting response" on the website when it had us confirm our interest in the program... After confirming, it said what everyone else's said: Final Review... I'm pretty sure this is the same for all finalists.
 
Both my friend and I noticed that our apps said "notified of award-awaiting response" on the website when it had us confirm our interest in the program... After confirming, it said what everyone else's said: Final Review... I'm pretty sure this is the same for all finalists.

Ok. Ok. I woud eat my crow!

Maybe I was wrong in my recollection!
 
my online status also still says, Final Review.... I have not recieved an email or letter from NHSC confirming what my advisor shared with me!

btw; I'm a nurse midwifery student working on my MSN and aparently 300 midwifery students applied this year, per what the anylst shared with my advisor. I feel truly blessed to have been selected as a finalist and excited about not having to take out loans for the remainder of my program!!
 
I'll have to call or email tomorrow. I'll see if I can get some info on what our actual status is. The analyst was very nice, so I'll see what she lets me know.

I am excited to hear what you have to say re: the convo today! I feel like you are our access to an "insider" analyst that actually knows what's going on with the program, rather than just the call center people.
 
What a way to finish off your job! It is one of those things that you would never forget!

Yes, it was quite a way to finish my job, I was just about to walk out the door a little early when I had to stop and do those 5 things. I had someone with me to make sure I was doing it right because I was so excited. Robu, I really really want to believe that we're going to hear today!

Lizjhu: they called me to clarify the contract I had signed because I signed for two years, ending June 2013 but I graduate in August 2013 so he wanted to make sure I was aware that "you won't get your stipend in July and August". That's when I asked him when we would hear back.
 
Interesting note that I just found out.... On August 15th (4 days before the finalist email) the NHSC checked my credit, which I found out by pulling up my credit report.

I found this out using the site annualcreditreport.com
 
Last edited:
Interesting note that I just found out.... On August 15th (4 days before the finalist email) the NHSC checked my credit, which I found out by pulling up my credit report.

I found this out using the site annualcreditreport.com

They checked my credit, as well!
 
Interesting note that I just found out.... On August 15th (4 days before the finalist email) the NHSC checked my credit, which I found out by pulling up my credit report.

I found this out using the site annualcreditreport.com

Yup! Confirm! Experian services them...Their name on the request was: CBC/BUREAU OF PRIMARY HEALTH CARE

They did the same thing for the nurse version of NHSC
 
I would say to those who might want to know if they are on the waitinglist to do a credit check! If you are on the waitinglist, logic tells me that they would do a credit check as well!
 
Yeah, being neurotic, i google'd the address and found that it was NHSC!
 
No requests for my credit history in the past 2 years :(

To those of you who are finalists - did you select EFN and/or disadvantaged background status?
 
No requests for my credit history in the past 2 years :(

To those of you who are finalists - did you select EFN and/or disadvantaged background status?

I didn't have the EFN designation, but I am from a disadvantaged background.
 
I didn't have the EFN designation, but I am from a disadvantaged background.

same here! I heard from my FA advisor that its almost impossible to be able to claim EFN status, not sure if its true.
 
Phew, I also got a credit check on August 15 with Experian. You all had me scared for a minute there, thanks for the link, Atticus!
 
Top