Past AmeriCorps Members - How’d you use your Ed Award?

[DrDwayneJohnson]

Hi there, friends. I was fortunate enough to land a couple of acceptances this cycle. I will be finishing my AmeriCorps term for the remainder of my gap year, which will award me ~$5500 in an education award.

For past members that have gone into med school: how did you use your award? Paying back UG loans? Buying a new computer for medical school? Using it towards tuition? I’m currently thinking I’m going to use it towards tuition and hope the schools match my award. I also didn’t know if this is something medical schools typically do. Any help is much appreciated! Also, mods, if you feel this would be better addressed in the premed forums then please move this thread to where you see fit.

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[Scumbag_Steve]

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[DrDwayneJohnson]

I put it straight towards tuition.

If I remember correctly, you have to pay it directly to a school/student loan servicer, so if you wanted to use part of it for a laptop the only way that would be possible is if you have it as an item on your fee bill.

It could be a good idea to pay off some of the undergrad loan with it depending on interest, but I liked what I did, as it essentially made me borrow $5700 less for year one than I would've otherwise

Fair points all around. I was under the impression that most graduate level loans are higher interest than undergrad, which was my reasoning for tuition rather than loans. I'm not sure if the math actually checks out on that over the years though.