Scholarships for medical school?

[tomi65463]

I'm in undergrad currently and wondering if there are opportunities for scholarships, I know med school scholarships are supposedly very rare. What does an applicant need to be offered these scholarships? Most med students have good stats regardless. If it helps, I'm a URM ( black female) . Thank you for any help.

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[Mako555]

basically, to get a scholarship you need to be an extremely good applicant. Some schools offer very large scholarships to their favorite applicants (UChicago, Emory, and many more). Also, being an awesome applicant helps you get into the cheapest schools, regardless of scholarship, like Mayo.

and yes being a black female will help in this regard but you will still need to have great numbers and great everything else.

 

[Viola05]

In my experience, newer schools have also given out full scholarships to people. It seems to be a combination of above average stats and good interviews that dictates these though

 

[Ellie Arroway]

basically, to get a scholarship you need to be an extremely good applicant. Some schools offer very large scholarships to their favorite applicants (UChicago, Emory, and many more). Also, being an awesome applicant helps you get into the cheapest schools, regardless of scholarship, like Mayo.

and yes being a black female will help in this regard but you will still need to have great numbers and great everything else.

This. I am a finalist for a certain large national LGBTQ scholarship, but you don't get it just for identifying as an LGBTQ person. The medical students that get it were very strong applicants and are all going to top schools.

So do well with your academics, have solid extracurricular work in places you are passionate about, and seek out leadership positions.

 

[yellowfish]

I'm in undergrad currently and wondering if there are opportunities for scholarships, I know med school scholarships are supposedly very rare. What does an applicant need to be offered these scholarships? Most med students have good stats regardless. If it helps, I'm a URM ( black female) . Thank you for any help.

Everything a regular applicant has to do to get an acceptance, except better (in the eyes of the committee). Having extremely high numbers helps a lot in terms of merit scholarships. Some schools have cutoffs as high as 39/3.9.

 

[red7]

Aside from the entrance scholarships offered by schools (often to get top students to matriculate to their school), there are also sometimes scholarships offered by local/state medical societies, private foundations, and other organizations for students from a specific area, or students with an interest in particular fields or working with specific populations. Also, there are military scholarships which will pay for your education and require a certain number of years of military-based practice after graduating.

They can be tough to find - I would start maybe with the websites of local and state medical societies where you are.

There are also loan repayment programs after you finish your training, especially in primary care. The National Health Service Corps and the military come to mind.

 

[Twinnering]

I'm in undergrad currently and wondering if there are opportunities for scholarships, I know med school scholarships are supposedly very rare. What does an applicant need to be offered these scholarships? Most med students have good stats regardless. If it helps, I'm a URM ( black female) . Thank you for any help.

They are very rare, but they do exist and there are things you can do to increase your chances at getting them.

I don't have any personal experience with diversity scholarships, but I know a few people who have gotten them. Aside from that, as other posters said keep your stats up as they will open doors. I know you said that most med students have good stats, which is generally true...but not everyone is going to have a 3.9 GPA and 38+ MCAT. Merit scholarships usually have an academic component to them, and so doing well in your classes and killing your MCAT is a good way to set yourself up.

I can't comment for every school, but one dean told me how I was selected for their scholarship. The selection process she included having top notch academics, performing very well on their interview (it's a scaled score there), research experience (pub, posters, etc.), and extracurriculars with leadership. So they really do look at everything, and what contributions you have made/what you would add to the class. Best of luck

 

[CliveStaples]

I was informed that my scholarship was based upon a review of everybody's entire application and I suppose they were scored in 3 different tiers to offer a varied amount of scholarship. I know that it's only my experience at one state school, but I received the 2nd tier of scholarship and my numbers were actually below median in MCAT and GPA, so I know that having extraordinary portions to my other parts of my application and hittinga home run on my interviews is what netted me the scholarship, so realize that the competitiveness of your application as a whole is likely what is most important.

 

[seracus]

From another thread, the following top schools were confirmed to give out large (half to full tuition) merit scholarships:

Sorted by US News Ranking

• University of Pennsylvania
• Washington University in St. Louis
• Duke University
• University of Chicago
• University of Michigan
• Vanderbilt University
• Baylor University
• New York University
• University of North Carolina
• University of Texas - Southwestern
• Mayo

 

[BABSstudent]

It's true that some schools do merit based scholarships that are the result of your undergrad GPA, MCAT score and ECs.

At UW, the only scholarships given out are need based and go off your parents' taxes. There are also a few grants for WA residents but these are also need based and $8,000 is the max per year.

A few weeks ago UW sent an email out about an outside scholarship that was specific to like 6 west coast schools. However, the scholarship committee would only consider the first 100 applications. There are 10 awards, each $10,000. I bet all the spots are already full by now.

But think about it. Medical school scholarships are going to be the best of the best applicants competing for them. They will be tough to get.

 

[Girly X]

However, I must say that there have been quite a few scholarship offers flying around here. So there's more out there than you may think, even for state or "lower tier" schools. Could also be that the sdn population is just that awesome

 

[byaaaaaaah23]

From another thread, the following top schools were confirmed to give out large (half to full tuition) merit scholarships:

Sorted by US News Ranking

• University of Pennsylvania
• Washington University in St. Louis
• Duke University
• University of Chicago
• University of Michigan
• Vanderbilt University
• Baylor University
• New York University
• University of North Carolina
• University of Texas - Southwestern
• Mayo

UCLA just started offering full-ride scholarships (David Geffen Scholarships) this year, and also offers full-tuition scholarships (Leaders of Tomorrow Scholarships).

 

[tomi65463]

Wow thanks for the help everyone, so for the most part the schools that give out scholarships are extremely competitive to begin with.

 

[tomi65463]

I didn't know Mayo was a cheap school, I always thought the schools that were extremely difficult to get into we're always expensive. Mayo has a 2% acceptance rate.

 

[MilkIsGood]

I didn't know Mayo was a cheap school, I always thought the schools that were extremely difficult to get into we're always expensive. Mayo has a 2% acceptance rate.

Its not a cheap school. Its just everyone there has at least a half tuition scholarship, probably full depending on the year

 

[leon sandcastle]

there are hpsp scholarships for joining armed forces and also primary care scholarships

 

[SteinmetzMD]

There's always HSPS schoalrships in exchange for military service!