Would major awards (Marshall, Goldwater, Fulbright) help a lot in admission? I have the opportunity to try for these awards, but is it worth delaying a year? Would it increase ones chances significantly?
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Would major awards (Marshall, Goldwater, Fulbright) help a lot in admission?
- Thread starter raltima07
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You've already asked this question once: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=809265
... no need to ask the same (intuitively answered) question again. No, if you have not won it already, it is not worth wasting a year trying to obtain (those are arguably more difficult to obtain than a med school seat anyway).
... no need to ask the same (intuitively answered) question again. No, if you have not won it already, it is not worth wasting a year trying to obtain (those are arguably more difficult to obtain than a med school seat anyway).
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If you're applying for those awards strictly to boost your resume rather than for the opportunities they provide, you probably won't win them.
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Not worth taking a year off as getting these awards require luck and factors that are beyond your control.
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In addition, if you HAD gotten the goldwater like you claimed, you would have known that you can't apply for the goldwater after your Junior year in college.
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Well said.
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The poster in that thread was a complete idiot and didn't answer the question, hence asking a DIFFERENT version here.
I did get the Goldwater, I was not asking about it in general, but rather these national awards as a whole - would they provide a big boost to your application?
No, not strictly for the boost. To be honest, Studying in Oxford or Cambridge would be amazing and is something I totally want to do. But getting the boost doesn't matter. For example, I won the goldwater and on the press release they say that goldwater winners have a much higher chance on future awards - so I am not just planning on somehting impossible.
I wasn't planning on taking a year off in that sense. What I meant was my application year would be the year where I would [theoretically] be studying abroad if I got one of these awards. So I meant a year off in terms of that.
...If you look up my posts, (aside from the thread that idiot posted), you'll see that I mention winning the award in other places. So i'm not making that up, I threw goldwater in there to add an extra award to the list....
I know these awards are all really competititve, and I'm not stupid to think that I will win any of them. I do, however, have a good shot and I match up well with previous winners from my school. In addition, the little tidbit from the goldwater press release also adds motivation.
In addition, I am not just doing it for the name; however, would the name of the scholarship in of itself add a significant boost to the application or would med schools not care about these things?
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i think this thread should be thrown in with the: should i accept pbk? lot
& this post pretty much sums up why SDN makes me sick sometimes...
not only is it on the border of not making sense (do you mean- if you apply, will medical schools be impressed with the fact that you applied?) [if so, I think there are hopefully more impressive things that can "boost" your app than showing you can pay the 50-100 I think the FB costs these days.]
either way, follow your passions-
if your heart takes you down the path for these grants or opportunities- and youre lucky enough to qualify for them- you hopefully already realize the potential they have to contribute to your future career as a physician. This, I've come to gather, seems to be what adcoms "care about."
realistically, I can only speak for myself, but having applied to medschool this cycle, and then falling in love with a project I started in Ecuador and trying to apply to a FB at the same time, I can share two thoughts:
a- its more time consuming than first appears. in addition to the app, you've got a bit of editing, a ton of contacting, and some legit work to do if you want a competitive chance.
and b- for good or worse, it definitely comes up in your interviews. whether its a question about what youd do if you dont get into med school, or if, say for some reason, you happen to mention it under the pretense that it may get you some where- which i dont necessarily recommend; but at almost every interview I had, it came up when talking to faculty, interviewers, or other students. In the end, no matter what the interviewers think, it shouldn't define you as an applicant.
other awards may not have this issue.
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I'm pretty sure "of course prestigious awards look good" just about covers it.
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The exception to the rule being ... not if the recipient of the award is an A55.
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It took me far too long to realize what an A55 was...
Congrats on Goldwater OP, but I think you already know the answer to this (you're obviously smart).
I tried for Goldwater myself, but didn't make it out of my school -- all the nominees from my school won, so I can't be too disappointed. Lol
I tried for Goldwater myself, but didn't make it out of my school -- all the nominees from my school won, so I can't be too disappointed. Lol
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I just been awarded Fulbright OP. I won a Fulbright award for Korea ETA Program (2011-2012) and I didn't apply to medical school this cycle. So I honestly don't know if this is look upon favorably by Adcoms. I am also an UNCF/ Merck Fellow on top of that. I really love the experience these scholarships provide for me and I am looking forward to Korea!
Congrats on the Goldwater. I didn't heard about Goldwater until after the deadline 🙁
Congrats on the Goldwater. I didn't heard about Goldwater until after the deadline 🙁
