Wash U Merit Scholarships

[brothersboff]

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[Sparky Man]

Anyone have any idea when we're supposed to find out if we're finalists? Anyone hear themselves?

I don't know, but I was just accepted and received an application. If anyone knows, please post.

 

[CalicoKat]

I think I remember on another thread a few weeks ago someone posting to say that they'd received an e-mail letter them know they're a finalist. I don't know whether it was for the Olin fellowship for women or for the other merit scholarship deal, but I really think I remember reading that at some point...as for me, I haven't heard a word about either.

 

[brothersboff]

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[WOLFGANG]

Yes. It was Treg and it was indeed for the Olin women's scholarship.

 

[Treg]

Yeah, I will be in STL from the 19-22 for the Olin interviews. There are 7 of us MD acceptees who are Olin finalists. I can try to find out the merit scholarship timing when I am there, but as I recall from last year, they invite people to come back for interviews in April, and the decisions are announced in early May, right before the 15th comes around and you need to pick one school.

Treg

 

[brothersboff]

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[Sparky Man]

Yeah, I vaugely remember something like that as well, but I thought it might have been for the scholarship for women. The fact that they're still giving out applications is a good sign though, for those of us who haven't heard.

Sparky, when is your application due?

hey it's due march 15, it's the merit scholarship application.

 

[CalicoKat]

I got the official you-ain't-getting-an-Olin-penny-outta-us letter today from Wash U, so I think if you haven't yet heard that you're a finalist for that one, you may be out of luck. I think the Olin fellowship (for women) and the other merit scholarships are selected separately though? I'm trying to hold on to a glimmer of hope....

 

[kikkoman]

I got the official you-ain't-getting-an-Olin-penny-outta-us letter today from Wash U, so I think if you haven't yet heard that you're a finalist for that one, you may be out of luck. I think the Olin fellowship (for women) and the other merit scholarships are selected separately though? I'm trying to hold on to a glimmer of hope....

I think they are separately decided. When I was there in late February, I caught a glimpse of a sheet that said "Olin Scholarship Semifinalists," which listed 12 names. Since the merit scholarship deadline isn't for a few weeks, I would imagine that the selection process is separate.

 

[lorelei]

They are selected separately, I'm pretty sure, since Olin scholarship materials were sent to one office (Graduate Studies I think?) and the other merit scholarships went to the medical school office.

 

[Treg]

Just FYI, the Olin had ~450 applicants (from all of the graduate schools). There are 25 finalists for 12-13 awards. Wish me luck this weekend at my interview

Treg

 

[FloridaMadame]

Just FYI, the Olin had ~450 applicants (from all of the graduate schools). There are 25 finalists for 12-13 awards. Wish me luck this weekend at my interview

Treg

Wishing you all the best at your interview. When will you actually find out if you are an Olin winner? Is Wash U your #1 choice even if you don't get the scholarship?

 

[chocolate-e]

Anyone heard anything re: merit scholarships yet?

I thought I remembered someone on SDN saying that WashU would be calling to notify finalists today & tomorrow, but I can't seem to find that info anywhere now. Maybe it was a figment of my imagination?

 

[lorelei]

When I called them a few weeks ago (I think that's how long it was) they said the committee was meeting today, April 4, and finalist notifications would begin right away (tonight and the next few days).

I have not heard anything since, though.

 

[ADoc]

I got an email from John Walters today saying that I should call him tomorrow between 7 and 3. Did anybody else get that?

When I called them a few weeks ago (I think that's how long it was) they said the committee was meeting today, April 4, and finalist notifications would begin right away (tonight and the next few days).

I have not heard anything since, though.

 

[CalicoKat]

I did not, but my fingers are crossed for you! I'll bet it's good news🙂

 

[chocolate-e]

I got an email from John Walters today saying that I should call him tomorrow between 7 and 3. Did anybody else get that?

Nope ... but let us know how it goes!

 

[Sparky Man]

I got an email from John Walters today saying that I should call him tomorrow between 7 and 3. Did anybody else get that?

hey, i didn't get that either. good luck dude!!!!

 

[stanford05]

hey adoc,

i'm almost positive that means you're a finalist, so let's be cautiously optimistic for you! could you post what you hear for the rest of us still waiting? i would think that more than 1 sdner would be a finalist, so maybe they're still notifying...

 

[FloridaMadame]

No news here either, but good luck to you. Keep us informed 🙂

 

[Roxyfoxy]

I received a call from from John Walters today about the interview. I guess if you are selected as a merit scholarship recipient, you have to either accept or deny the offer when they tell you over the phone. I am torn between Penn and Wash U. Penn gave me a substantial scholarship...but not full. What are your guys' thoughts on that?

 

[MWillie]

I received a call from from John Walters today about the interview. I guess if you are selected as a merit scholarship recipient, you have to either accept or deny the offer when they tell you over the phone. I am torn between Penn and Wash U. Penn gave me a substantial scholarship...but not full. What are your guys' thoughts on that?

Go interview, can't hurt right?

 

[CalicoKat]

Assuming they don't tell you right after your interview whether you got the scholarship or not, absolutely go to the interview (but maybe you were planning on doing that anyway). I completely understand that these decisions are hard, but I guess the deadline for making your final decision is coming up soon--maybe you should just make your decision earlier so that if they call to tell you that you got the $$, you can say confidently that you want/don't want it because you've already thought it through. I don't know if you're going to Wash U's and Penn's second look weekends, but that might be a great way for you to figure out where you feel the best. If both of them are giving you money (assuming Wash U comes through), and obviously they're both excellent schools, maybe you now have the luxury of picking a school based purely on how much you like it and how good you feel about yourself and your future classmates. I don't mean to simplify this or anything--because choosing WILL be hard--but you can see this positively, as something that lets you go with your gut instead of according to your bank account balance🙂 Best of luck to you at the interview.

 

[EpointH]

They do tell you pretty soon after the interview, actually. The interview weekend is May 6-8, with arrival in time for dinner on Friday and departure anytime on Sunday. Dean Walters said that the selection committee meets on that Monday and from what I gathered, recipients are notified either later that day or on Tuesday...and you'd better have a firm answer when they call. I guess it's one of those things where you have to have a decision pretty much made by the time you go. But hey, that still gives a month to procrastinate on making the decision! 😉

 

[Treg]

For the Olin, they gave me a couple of weeks to decide. Since the merit scholarships are decided so close the May 15 deadline, I think that they will require a decision within a few days, so they can offer it to someone else before they have to withdraw from all but one school.

Treg

 

[ADoc]

So I had the same conversation with Dean Walters. It's pretty clear that they call you on May 9th and ask you if you're going to come to Wash U. Granted, I'm pretty sure thats against the rules, I understand that they're offereing a boat-load of money. I'm also in the same situation at least sort of becuase i really like Penn and Hopkins. So much so that I'm not even sure I'd got to Wash U with the money. I talked to a couple of pre-med advisors and they all said go to the weekend and be excited about Wash U because you don't want to limit your options. Also if you're lucky, you can use the offer from Wash U to get more money out of the other schools. See you at the weekend Roxy!

 

[Roxyfoxy]

Yeah, I am definitely in the same boat as you are ADOC...I really liked Penn and when I interviewed at Wash U, I didn't have a good day there. Given that my opinion maybe biased considering that I couldn't fall asleep all night at Olin the night before and got stalked by this weird guy when I went to lunch at the Towers (I thought I had to defend myself by whacking him with my umbrella) Anyways, I am going to go to the interview and try to look at the school objectively assuming that I am not going to be in fear of my safety this time. By the way, how are you going to get money from other schools....you won't know if you got the scholarhip until they call you. I can just picture myself calling Penn and say, " I might get a scholarships, so, how about you give me a full ride as well." LOL. Anyways, see you there!

 

[ADoc]

Lol. Yeah. My interview day also really sucked. My interviewer got sick and I got her husband who proceed to drill me about my research for about 45 of the most painful mintues of my life. I didn't have the whole stalker thing going though. Sorry 'bout that.

It's hard to use the scholarship as an upper hand but you can be like, I'm a finalist for a full ride scholarship that I'm going to have to take or leave the moment I get that phone call so please make the decision easy on me and work on my package. Hopefully the like 50/50 chance that you'll get it will make them add a couple more of those Grant $$ to your package.

Yeah, I am definitely in the same boat as you are ADOC...I really liked Penn and when I interviewed at Wash U, I didn't have a good day there. Given that my opinion maybe biased considering that I couldn't fall asleep all night at Olin the night before and got stalked by this weird guy when I went to lunch at the Towers (I thought I had to defend myself by whacking him with my umbrella) Anyways, I am going to go to the interview and try to look at the school objectively assuming that I am not going to be in fear of my safety this time. By the way, how are you going to get money from other schools....you won't know if you got the scholarhip until they call you. I can just picture myself calling Penn and say, " I might get a scholarships, so, how about you give me a full ride as well." LOL. Anyways, see you there!

 

[krelian]

Congrats on the interview. Like others have noted, I think you all should definitely go try out the interview. Also, Penn is quite stingy with its financial aid, so if you don't get a good merit scholarship from them, don't expect much need-based scholarships.

By the way, have people been successful in the past in negotiating financial aid packages by leveraging a better package at another school? Also, are you all talking about leveraging for better merit scholarships or better need-based scholarships? I know people who have negotiated successfully for undergrad, but I imagine it would be more difficult for med schools, particular ones that are entirely need-based (i.e. HMS, Stanford, JHU, Yale, etc.). These schools publish how much they expect you to take out in the "unit loan" and since the family contribution cannot be changed on whim, I don't see how need-based packages can be changed much, without it being unfair to other finaid recipients.

 

[Sparky Man]

any news lately????????