Scholarships

[fourpointohoh]

Hi everyone!

Congratulations to everyone that got in somewhere, so far. I still have interviews to attend and letters to await. I have a few questions for those of you that have been accepted:

1. Did any of you recieve scholarships? If so, how much money did you get? Is it renewable each year?

2. What was the basis of the scholarship? Merit, need, or a little of both?

3. What exactly signifies "need"? Aren't we all "needy"? For instance, we will all be full-time students that will be taking out huge loans.

4. I know family contribution has something to do with it, but what if you are 20-something, married and your husband is also gonna go to dental school... is that "needy" enough? (a little too specific, sorry )

5. Too many questions? sorry

Thanks in advance.... I know I'm probably not the only one worrying about money.

4.oo

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[fourpointohoh]

somebody please reply..... pretty please!

 

[juan7677]

I got a $45,000 scholarship based on merit from UOP. This is for the whole time there.

I also got a $4,000 merit scholarship from Tufts which is renewable every year if I rank in the top 20 of my class.

 

[tinker bell]

Juan, $45K is a lot for 3 yr. So, you'll end up paying about 100K for your 3 yr at UOP.
I heard that the dean scholarship from UPENN is also good as well. But like Mark Lombard said, just go to a school because of money, it's like getting married for money.

T

 

[tinker bell]

One more thing that I forgot, Juan. Last year, rice girl (had a really good stats). She was not very excited about UOP at all. Ten day after the first offer, UOP called her and offered 10K more. So, if you kind of ummmmm,.....you might be able to stretch your fund a little bit more. Best of luck
T

 

[agutier3]

Hi, I got a dean's scholarship too from UOP. They gave me $24,000 spread over three years.

 

[Qoo]

Dean's scholarship from Penn - half of the tuition for 4 years.

Merit based scholarship from Baylor - $3,300 for the first year.

~Qoo

 

[juan7677]

Originally posted by tinker bell
One more thing that I forgot, Juan. Last year, rice girl (had a really good stats). She was not very excited about UOP at all. Ten day after the first offer, UOP called her and offered 10K more. So, if you kind of ummmmm,.....you might be able to stretch your fund a little bit more. Best of luck
T

wow really. But i don't think they'll give me more cuz at the interview they told me that $45,000 was the most they would give. But just wondering, how did she get more. Did she request more or did they just automatically give it to her.

 

[SMDdent]

For the guys that received a scholarship at UOP, did you inquire about scholarships at your interview?

 

[tinker bell]

They called her 10 days after the initial offering and sweetened the deal with 10K more. That's what I remember. I'm sure you can do research about rice girl's posts. I think she ended up going to UCLA.
T

 

[agutier3]

SMDent-

No I did not bring up anything regarding scholarships at the interview. I found out when Kathy Candito called me and informed me that I received it. By the way, have you decided where you will be going? I've decided to go to UOP....so as of now, I will be freeing up 6 spots at other schools. Hope it helps someone. Good luck with your decision. Maybe we'll be classmates!

Arby

 

[fourpointohoh]

Thanks to everyone that replied, and again, congrats.

Did anyone get any money from BU? And is it really true that they want 3 grand right now to hold a place?

Dental School is expensive! I want to scream! I'm gonna start playing the lottery.

Wouldn't that be a difficult interview question?-- Would you still attend dental school if you won 15 million in the lottery? How would you answer that?

 

[PashaJ]

You're Persian Luminous?

 

[oceansize]

Not a huge amount, but....

I was offerred a $4,000 merit scholarship from Tufts.

 

[mini tooth]

I got accepted 2 yrs ago.

At Penn, they gave me the Deans scholarship which was half off tuition/
At Boston University, scholarship was $5,000 every year.
UCSF- no scholarship offer
USC- no scholarship offer
UCLA (where I'm going currently)- after I sent in my deposit, received Dean scholarship, a whooping $3,000 for ONE year only (not even renewable)..... or was it $1,000? Doesn't matter.... it was a very samll amount but I guess better than nothing.

 

[damian12]

UPenn - Minority Scholarship which covers half of the tuition

Tufts - offered $ 4,000 scholarship

 

[tinker bell]

What is a definition for minority (when scholarship is considered) at UPENN?
Anyone knows?
T

 

[damian12]

Minority scholarships are awarded to under-represented groups such as hispanics and african-americans. Thats basically it, and UPenn on average accepts 10 individuals that fit this category.

 

[fourpointohoh]

Do all of the 10 minorities accepted to UPENN get scholarships?

 

[damian12]

To be completely honest, I think they award the scholarship regardless of academic performance and is solely based on race. If you've received stuff from Penn, there are several pages that include an ethnic breakdown of the previous 3 or 4 classes.

Class of 2003 - 2 African Americans / 3 Hispanics
" 2004 - 9 / 4
" 2005 - 7 / 3

 

[Wisconsin guy]

Is it just me or does the awarding of scholarships based on race seem slightly racist. What ever happened to the dream of a color blind society?

 

[damian12]

I wouldn't say that awarding a scholarship to an individual who's race is underrepresented in dental schools qualifies as being racist. By offering scholarships to those individuals, such as myself, they directly influence the participation of a population in the dental community and make the efforts and views of certain schools significantly diverse.

 

[juan7677]

I agree

 

[damian12]

Maybe this is over the top, but here it goes.

A simple analogy to inbreeding could clarify things. In a closed population of individuals (dental community), inbreeding could significantly increase the number of homozygous recessive individuals, thus exposing deleterious mutations that could hinder the progression and evolution of a species. Inbreeding in this situation is similar to the lack of genetic variation, or absence of allelic diversity, such as a dental school void of a group of individuals (minorities). But mechanisms to restore variation among individuals do exist !!! SCHOLARSHIPS !! They increase the participation of certain individuals and attract others. This event could only be beneficial to the dental school and promote its evolution. Change is kewl.

 

[DesiDentist]

Plus studies have indicated that people of minority populations will go back and serve those communities. Hence, PENN wants to accept those people who would go back to communities who greatly need that attention. That is why AZ opened up a school so they could attract people who are interested in serving Native American Populations.

Also, strongly qualified individuals who have potential to be great dentists do not have the economic resources to go to PENN. For this reason these scholarships are offered. That is why I loved PENN, their commitment to building a diverse class is apparent. I believe they have the most African American students per class I have seen.

Even Temple has fewer African American students (only 1 or 2 per class).

DesiDentist

PS: damian I liked the genetics analogy.

 

[tinker bell]

Same for UCSF, diversity is the key. And people from disadvantaged background are given serious consideration.
I love UCSF, it's so highly diverse that I don't even notice that I'm minority any more. I just feel like home there.
It's such a good school, lots of love from faculties and lots of support. I just can't believe how lucky I am to get to be with them. They are the best institution I have ever been to. But the curriculum is tough, very good education for a super price.

 

[fourpointohoh]

Anyone else get scholarships? How about the Army/Navy/Airforce? Is anyone looking into doing that? If not, why do you think it's not worth it?

Thanks! And congrats and good luck to everyone!!!

 

[yosemitesam]

fourpointohoh, Congratulations if that's really your GPA! I thought about doing the Navy thing but decided against it because I just don't want that much structure and discipline in my life. One of the things that appeals to a lot of would-be dentists is the independence that a career in dentistry offers. Also, because I was accepted to a state school, MCG, my debt load is not going to be big enough to justify selling my soul to the U.S. government. I have a lot of friends who have done medical or dental school through the military. Some love it and are in for life and some are counting down the seconds to their emancipation. I guess it just depends on your personality and specific motivations for choosing dentistry.

This is getting long but, Oh well. I have heard from some of these military dentists though that they get to see TONS of interesting patients and treat cases that would have been referred to a specialist in a private setting. Good practice for you - bad news for the enlisted men.

I've personally got my eyes on the Indian Health Service after school. It gives you most of the perks of a military commitment with none of the comittment. You can request or decline any assignment and quit at any time. They'll pay off your loans after two years and you get to work in COOL PLACES like Alaska!

 

[yosemitesam]

I'd like to weigh in on this affirmative action thing. First of all, I have no problem with private schools or organizations offering scholarships based on race. Heck, if someone wants to start up a private dental school and not even let whites on the campus and pay everyone $40,000 a year to go there, although I disagree with the concept, I have no problem with that. But it is not the place of the U.S. government to use public funds to play favorites.
Also, I think diversity is a good thing, but it can not reasonably be defined in terms of race. There are literally thousands of diverse cultures and backgrounds in the United States and only a few of these can be directly related to race. If diversity was really a goal, schools would be more interested in things like religion, languages and dialect, father's occupation, etc... I see few things of this nature being addressed in the application process. At one point, affirmative action may have served a purpose, but now it is outdated and divisive.

As for the genetic diversity analogy, it is clever but I don't think it really applies in this situation. Does anybody really believe that the NBA would be better served if we made special allowances to get more hispanics and asians in the pros? No, although there has always been diversity among the players, (Robinson is nothing like Pippen who is nothing like Jordan who is nothing like Malone) defining diversity in terms of race would be a serious mistake. Basketball, like dentistry, is a specialized field where skill and ability should be the main determinants of admission to the profession. If we would not do this for basketball, a relatively unimportant facet of human existence, why would we want to do this for our health care.

 

[bs1299]

Very well said, and i agree 100%. Affirmative action is getting way out of context from its original purpose...To level the playing field and give equal opportunity. But not to lower standards for minorities, which is what is happening at some schools, even Pres. Bush notices. The better qualified applicants should be accepted and if it comes down to a minority and a non minority with the same stats then i can understand taking the minority over the non minority, but the most qualified applicants deserve to be accepted, regardless of race. Not just b/c someone is a minority should someone receive a scholarship. All dental students are pretty much in the same boat when it comes to loans and financial needs. I know as a member of society I would want the most qualified dentist or doctor to work on me.