Scholarships for med school

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

desigirl

New Member
10+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2007
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
I read something about an applicant getting full scholarships to med school. What type of scholarships are there for medical school?

:luck:

Members don't see this ad.
 
Not a ton of schools give out merit-based money, but it's there to some extent. UChicago and WashU give out quite a few merit-based scholarships (both full-tuition and half-tuition I think), Emory gives out a handful (5 to MD, 2 to MD/PhD), Vanderbilt gives some out as well, I'm not sure how many though.

Some schools are very cheap in the first place (probably your state school), such as Baylor (even OOS) and Mayo Clinic. Tuition at these places runs about half of the cost of other private institutions.

A lot of the schools operate strictly on need. I dunno if any give out "full-ride" need-based scholarships, but you could qualify for a lot of money. Of course, this depends on how much your parents make...

There are also diversity scholarships, which you won't qualify for.
 
Not a ton of schools give out merit-based money, but it's there to some extent. UChicago and WashU give out quite a few merit-based scholarships (both full-tuition and half-tuition I think), Emory gives out a handful (5 to MD, 2 to MD/PhD), Vanderbilt gives some out as well, I'm not sure how many though.

Some schools are very cheap in the first place (probably your state school), such as Baylor (even OOS) and Mayo Clinic. Tuition at these places runs about half of the cost of other private institutions.

A lot of the schools operate strictly on need. I dunno if any give out "full-ride" need-based scholarships, but you could qualify for a lot of money. Of course, this depends on how much your parents make...

There are also diversity scholarships, which you won't qualify for.

Harvard reduced their tuition dramatically for mid-incomed families.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
I would say the majority of scholarships will be need-based (coming from a family whose income is ~poverty level). Merit-based ones would have to be extremely rare. State schools provide a big incentive by offering state tuition (which is usually half that of private institutions). Plus, loans from the public sector are readily available and have fairly low interests rates (though I wouldn't complain if they were lower).

Acceptance to the medical school is a merit-based reward anyhow.
 
There are merit scholarships at some schools, privately offered scholarships for whatever criteria the donor has in mind, and some need-based money (needing to take out loans for med school is almost universal though - don't count on getting scholarship money because you can't afford tuition!). Some scholarships are offered for under-represented minorities.
 
This isn't technically a scholarship, but I have heard of people bartering tuition.

My friend told UC that the only reason she was considering not going there was since UW was so much cheaper (we're wisconsin peeps), so UC matched tuition.

Anyone else hear of stuff like this happening?
 
Our school gives out 3 full-tuition scholarships every year, and then a handful of partial scholarships as well ranging from $500 - $15,000/year. The partials come from the general scholarship fund at the med school + "private" scholarships that are for students at the school. The students that receive the private scholarships are selected by the school's scholarship committee. So, you just fill out one scholarship application, then either interview for the full rides, or just get selected for the partials
 
This isn't technically a scholarship, but I have heard of people bartering tuition.

My friend told UC that the only reason she was considering not going there was since UW was so much cheaper (we're wisconsin peeps), so UC matched tuition.

Anyone else hear of stuff like this happening?

I've negotiated a scholarship in a similar manner. Not uncommon.
 
I've negotiated a scholarship in a similar manner. Not uncommon.

How do you go about that? My friend said it basically fell into her lap after she was upfront about her reasons for not going there.
 
How do you go about that? My friend said it basically fell into her lap after she was upfront about her reasons for not going there.

Basically,

"Hello, I love your school but another school has made me an excellent financial offer that I cannot refuse. If your school was more affordable, it would be my first choice."
 
Members don't see this ad :)
A full scholarship to medical school. Now that is a sweet deal.
 
My chem TA from last year got a full scholarship with stipend to Albert Einstein, and nearly as much from Duke, he ended up going to duke.

He kicked ass in just about every way med schools care about though.
 
My chem TA from last year got a full scholarship with stipend to Albert Einstein, and nearly as much from Duke, he ended up going to duke.

He kicked ass in just about every way med schools care about though.

Was he MSTP?
 
Some schools are very cheap in the first place (probably your state school), such as Baylor (even OOS) and Mayo Clinic. Tuition at these places runs about half of the cost of other private institutions.

Mayo costs $29,000 (yes, relatively cheap to begin with for a private med school). There are 42 MD students. Of those, about 11 will get $25,000 dean's scholarships. Those scholarships seem to go to applicants that are ranked the highest by the admissions committee (which is definitely not based on stats alone; I talked to an OOS student who got the dean's scholarship with a 31 on the MCAT, was not a URM, and interviewed in December last year). It seems they notify you if you get the dean's scholarship when they call to accept you.

The rest of the class gets $15,000 scholarships each. Plus, there are a bunch of "happy patient scholarships," so that most students end up paying between $5,000 and $10,000 tuition. And another OOS student I spoke with mentioned getting need based aid as well (and ended up paying $4,500). In addition, there's a $5,000 travel stipend for any medically-related trips during your four years (for shadowing, seminars, OOS rotations, etc.).

Mayo specifically provides so much scholarship money to everyone in the class to minimize the effect of debt and finances on choice and/or location of specialty/practice. 👍 And to make things even nicer, you get a choice of a Dell or Mac laptop, and everyone is guaranteed health insurance (I think there are two plans, $25/month or $75/month). I thought that their provision of inexpensive health insurance was pretty classy. Nice to see a med school putting their money where their mouth is on health care policy.

Where was that thread on underrated med schools? 😉
 
Hey Balcksails...I think I know who you are talking about becuase some on I knew got that exact same offer. Did we go to the same undergrad?😀
 
Hey Balcksails...I think I know who you are talking about becuase some on I knew got that exact same offer. Did we go to the same undergrad?😀

Did you go to NYU?
 
I read something about an applicant getting full scholarships to med school. What type of scholarships are there for medical school?

:luck:
Most scholarships come from the med schools, and every school is different. A lot of schools give out merit scholarships and need-based aid. You will have to go to each school's webpage to find out what kind of financial aid options they give.
 
Mayo costs $29,000 (yes, relatively cheap to begin with for a private med school). There are 42 MD students. Of those, about 11 will get $25,000 dean's scholarships. Those scholarships seem to go to applicants that are ranked the highest by the admissions committee (which is definitely not based on stats alone; I talked to an OOS student who got the dean's scholarship with a 31 on the MCAT, was not a URM, and interviewed in December last year). It seems they notify you if you get the dean's scholarship when they call to accept you.

The rest of the class gets $15,000 scholarships each. Plus, there are a bunch of "happy patient scholarships," so that most students end up paying between $5,000 and $10,000 tuition. And another OOS student I spoke with mentioned getting need based aid as well (and ended up paying $4,500). In addition, there's a $5,000 travel stipend for any medically-related trips during your four years (for shadowing, seminars, OOS rotations, etc.).

Mayo specifically provides so much scholarship money to everyone in the class to minimize the effect of debt and finances on choice and/or location of specialty/practice. 👍 And to make things even nicer, you get a choice of a Dell or Mac laptop, and everyone is guaranteed health insurance (I think there are two plans, $25/month or $75/month). I thought that their provision of inexpensive health insurance was pretty classy. Nice to see a med school putting their money where their mouth is on health care policy.

Where was that thread on underrated med schools? 😉

kicks self for not applying to Mayo. . . 😕
 
kicks self for not applying to Mayo. . . 😕

Haha. Now I feel EXACTLY the same way! I hope you hear good news from Mayo soon, Phoenix!! You will have to enjoy that low tuition and class camaraderie for all of us. 🙂
 
kicks self for not applying to Mayo. . . 😕

Yeah, I think Mayo is pretty underrated (or perhaps just much less known among pre-meds). I think they got a total of about 3,700 primary applications this year. Much less than I'd expect for such a stellar school, but perhaps it's the location/weather. Funny thing is, I didn't realize that they give out so much scholarship money (i.e., to the ENTIRE class) until right before my interview. I guess if I had noticed the ridiculously low average student indebtedness ($60,000 or so?) in the MSAR I should have figured it out sooner.

Haha. Now I feel EXACTLY the same way! I hope you hear good news from Mayo soon, Phoenix!! You will have to enjoy that low tuition and class camaraderie for all of us. 🙂

I really really hope so! Ah, Mayo.... 😍
 
Much less than I'd expect for such a stellar school, but perhaps it's the location/weather.

^ My reason for not applying, too bad it's not in a slightly warmer place (would have loved a chance for low debt)
 
Mayo costs $29,000 (yes, relatively cheap to begin with for a private med school). There are 42 MD students. Of those, about 11 will get $25,000 dean's scholarships. Those scholarships seem to go to applicants that are ranked the highest by the admissions committee (which is definitely not based on stats alone; I talked to an OOS student who got the dean's scholarship with a 31 on the MCAT, was not a URM, and interviewed in December last year). It seems they notify you if you get the dean's scholarship when they call to accept you.

The rest of the class gets $15,000 scholarships each. Plus, there are a bunch of "happy patient scholarships," so that most students end up paying between $5,000 and $10,000 tuition. And another OOS student I spoke with mentioned getting need based aid as well (and ended up paying $4,500). In addition, there's a $5,000 travel stipend for any medically-related trips during your four years (for shadowing, seminars, OOS rotations, etc.).

Mayo specifically provides so much scholarship money to everyone in the class to minimize the effect of debt and finances on choice and/or location of specialty/practice. 👍 And to make things even nicer, you get a choice of a Dell or Mac laptop, and everyone is guaranteed health insurance (I think there are two plans, $25/month or $75/month). I thought that their provision of inexpensive health insurance was pretty classy. Nice to see a med school putting their money where their mouth is on health care policy.

Where was that thread on underrated med schools? 😉

Mayo is very interesting they look for a certain type of people. U said ur friend got in with a 31, I've seen people with as high as 40 and 4.0's get rejected. I know numbers aren't everything but that is a substantial difference.
 
How fruitful is it to rely on scholarships?
 
Mayo is very interesting they look for a certain type of people. U said ur friend got in with a 31, I've seen people with as high as 40 and 4.0's get rejected. I know numbers aren't everything but that is a substantial difference.

Well, Mayo is a real "fit" school. Pritzker is too (among others). And both have been known to reject applications with MCATs in the 40s and a 4.0 gpa. Numbers aren't everything everywhere.

And not to eat your heart out (those of you that didn't apply), but Mayo is not only purely pass/fail (with no ranking), but for your first two years, you get two weeks off every six week block. During those two weeks you can take vacation, shadow one of the 2,000 doctors at Mayo Clinic, go home to volunteer, go abroad for something medically related/volunteering, etc. That's where the $5,000 travel stipend comes into play. And for the poster above who bemoaned the weather, I believe you can do most of your rotations at Mayo's hospitals in Jacksonville, FL and Scottsdale, AZ in your third and fourth years if you want to escape the MN weather.

And for something that really blew my socks off (but wasn't really applicable to me), if you want an MD/JD and you get into Mayo, they have a system set up where you don't have to take the LSAT or even apply to law school - you're automatically enrolled in the University of Arizona's law school if you want. Also, they've condensed it to two years instead of three, and it's free. :idea: Ok, I'll stop gushing about Mayo now. Sometimes I get the impression that they like their under-the-radar excellent reputation.
 
Yes I did go to NYU. I loved it and I know exactlly who you are talking about. Anyways, good luck applying to medical schools!
 
I mean to say how likely is it that one will be able to pay his college with maximum scholarship and minimal loans?
 
Top