Obtaining Merit Scholarships (Undergrad)

[PainKiller69]

I've read that a large percentage of students obtain help paying for their education via scholarships.

What kinds of grades are needed to obtain a merit based scholarship?

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[PainKiller69]

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[ChubbyChaser]

to medical school????very very high.. or soemthing very special

To UG...it all depends...Id say 1300+ and 3.8+ minimum

 

[olemissbabydoc]

you want a merit based scholarship to help with undergrad? most of these are given at the beginning of your freshman year (which I assume you've already completed).

as far as med school, they are hard to come by...few and far between.

 

[SageFrancis]

If you're talking about merit scholarships to med school, those are fairly hard to come by. A 3.5 won't cut it, but if you get a 4.0 from now on, you have a chance. You'll also need an awesome MCAT score.

 

[se2131]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=520344

EDIT: oh hm, the OP deleted all his posts...

basically he was asking what one needs to do to get a scholarship. I put up a list of schools that I know are friendly (relatively) with scholarship money. I'll copy-paste it here for you:

The best way to get a scholarship is to apply to schools that are generous with them, of which there are very few.

Washington University - some full tuition and half-tuition scholarships, maybe around 10?
Vanderbilt University - decent number of students get some merit-based money
Emory University - a handful (maybe 5) of full-tuition scholarships, no other merit money
Case Western - 15-20 scholarships ranging from $20,000 to full-tuition
UPitt - from what I hear, decent amount of people get merit based money from them
UChicago - very generous with merit based money compared to most other schools
UMich - dunno anything about how much, but they have at least some merit-based scholarships

And don't forget the schools that are already cheap to begin with, namely:
All your state schools
Mayo Clinic
Baylor

 

[PainKiller69]

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[se2131]

Oops, I meant undergrad.

Can someone be granted scholarship during their sophomore year? I'll definitely have this discussion with my school at some point.

Merit-based, almost definitely no, no matter how superstar you are. Merit scholarships are used for recruitment, why would they give you free money now that you're already there?

But it never hurts to try. I did, and got shot down.

Maybe if your financial situation changes you can get more need-based money? But I don't know how this works

 

[45408]

you want a merit based scholarship to help with undergrad? most of these are given at the beginning of your freshman year (which I assume you've already completed).

as far as med school, they are hard to come by...few and far between.

Depending on your undergrad, many scholarships are not available to incoming freshmen. I started pulling in scholarships during my junior and senior year. A 17-year old isn't going to have the resume that someone who's 20-21 will have. I got quite a bit of money my senior year. I had a 3.85, research experience, volunteer experience, clinical experience, two jobs, active in school, etc. That's the sort of thing they're looking for in an undergrad scholarship.

 

[PainKiller69]

alt

 

[45408]

Merit-based, almost definitely no, no matter how superstar you are. Merit scholarships are used for recruitment, why would they give you free money now that you're already there?

But it never hurts to try. I did, and got shot down.

Maybe if your financial situation changes you can get more need-based money? But I don't know how this works

Um, there are tons of scholarships available once you're there. People donate all kinds of money for different causes. It's not about recruiting students (this isn't the NCAA), it's about helping students pay for an expensive education. At my school, the Honors College offers quite a few scholarships, there's a scholarship for pre-meds, the biology department offers a fair number of full-rides as well as graduating senior awards. I got all of those. I did need the money, as I was paying for my tuition on my own, but I could've taken out loans if I needed to.

 

[se2131]

Um, there are tons of scholarships available once you're there. People donate all kinds of money for different causes. It's not about recruiting students (this isn't the NCAA), it's about helping students pay for an expensive education. At my school, the Honors College offers quite a few scholarships, there's a scholarship for pre-meds, the biology department offers a fair number of full-rides as well as graduating senior awards. I got all of those. I did need the money, as I was paying for my tuition on my own, but I could've taken out loans if I needed to.

Hm, guess I was mistaken in general. At least at my school there is absolutely NO money for people who are not incoming freshmen. Guess I just assumed that this was standard

 

[45408]

Hm, guess I was mistaken in general. At least at my school there is absolutely NO money for people who are not incoming freshmen. Guess I just assumed that this was standard

We had bulletin boards around campus with various scholarship opportunities. Most were fairly specific - e.g., female teachers, math majors, Italian heritage, parents were in the military, etc - but eventually you could find one that fit your description.