Negotiating Financial Aid

[YoungDaggy]

I have been fortunate enough to have been accepted to my top MD school earlier this week. I, of course, filled out the FAFSA, and the school mentioned that they give out need and merit based scholarships.

Just today, I was sent an email regarding a scholarship but it did not mention whether it was need or merit based. I am extremely grateful for the scholarship but I was wondering if it would be wise to ask for more. My family does not make enough to support any COA and I would like to limit my loans. I know students typically try to leverage their other aid packages, but I do not have anything of that sort to leverage.


What would you recommend I do?

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[Mr.Smile12]

I have been fortunate enough to have been accepted to my top MD school earlier this week. I, of course, filled out the FAFSA, and the school mentioned that they give out need and merit based scholarships.

Just today, I was sent an email regarding a scholarship but it did not mention whether it was need or merit based. I am extremely grateful for the scholarship but I was wondering if it would be wise to ask for more. My family does not make enough to support any COA and I would like to limit my loans. I know students typically try to leverage their other aid packages, but I do not have anything of that sort to leverage.

What would you recommend I do?

How much more would you be asking? If you have a concrete number and a reason, you might as well ask. No guarantee you'll get the answer you want, but ask again after you matriculate.

 

[YoungDaggy]

How much more would you be asking? If you have a concrete number and a reason, you might as well ask. No guarantee you'll get the answer you want, but ask again after you matriculate.

I basically got what equates to ~27% of the school's listed cost of attendance (25K / 92K). I was hoping they would increase it ~10-15-20K. I do not have a reason in the sense of an extreme situation that would necessitate additional aid. It's more like my family does not make enough to pay anything and any additional aid would be appreciated.

The school did say that "Once enrolled, students are continually considered for additional scholarships each year."

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I basically got what equates to ~27% of the school's listed cost of attendance (25K / 92K). I was hoping they would increase it ~10-15-20K. I do not have a reason in the sense of an extreme situation that would necessitate additional aid. It's more like my family does not make enough to pay anything and any additional aid would be appreciated.

The school did say that "Once enrolled, students are continually considered for additional scholarships each year."

Make sure your FAFSA is accurate. If anything, you will get additional loans to make up that difference.

 

[YoungDaggy]

Make sure your FAFSA is accurate. If anything, you will get additional loans to make up that difference.

Yes my FAFSA is accurate. So would you recommend I just accept their offer and move on?

Now I'm not sure whether this matters in this context or not, it is actually forbidden in my religion (Islam) to use loans unless absolutely needed, and when they are, it is best to limit them as much as possible. Do you think I could possibly tell them that? I don't ever bring up religion because it may be a sensitive topic.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Yes my FAFSA is accurate. So would you recommend I just accept their offer and move on?

Now I'm not sure whether this matters in this context or not, it is actually forbidden in my religion (Islam) to use loans unless absolutely needed, and when they are, it is best to limit them as much as possible. Do you think I could possibly tell them that? I don't ever bring up religion because it may be a sensitive topic.

If the school/university already has Muslim students who adhere to avoiding rabat, they probably know and may/not have ways to accommodate you. This is where networking with AMMSA student members earlier in the process would have helped you.

If you can find great sources of qard hassan, that would be awesome, but the tuition costs for medical/dental school are so much higher that it's very difficult. (I only know of one which I share in Becoming a Student Doctor and it doesn't seem to cover a lot.)

 

[YoungDaggy]

If the school/university already has Muslim students who adhere to avoiding rabat, they probably know and may/not have ways to accommodate you. This is where networking with AMMSA student members earlier in the process would have helped you.

If you can find great sources of qard hassan, that would be awesome, but the tuition costs for medical/dental school are so much higher that it's very difficult. (I only know of one which I share in Becoming a Student Doctor.)

Mr. Smile my brother, I was not expecting you to use those vocabulary words😆

So would you recommend that I mention it to the school? And if you don't mind me asking, what is the qard hassan that you know of?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Mr. Smile my brother, I was not expecting you to use those vocabulary words😆

So would you recommend that I mention it to the school? And if you don't mind me asking, what is the qard hassan that you know of?

The big charities I'm finding are to help support Gaza relief. There's not much for higher education/students, but there is one. I don't know how much progress you'd get mentioning it to your financial aid officer; it's not like we aren't sympathetic... we just don't know. If you know of more, let me know so I can put it in BSD and curate it for future inquiries on the topic.

P.S. A favorite website among the long-time SDN members here:

Physician Personal Finance | White Coat Investor

www.whitecoatinvestor.com

 

[premed2023_CA]

If the school/university already has Muslim students who adhere to avoiding rabat, they probably know and may/not have ways to accommodate you. This is where networking with AMMSA student members earlier in the process would have helped you.

If you can find great sources of qard hassan, that would be awesome, but the tuition costs for medical/dental school are so much higher that it's very difficult. (I only know of one which I share in Becoming a Student Doctor and it doesn't seem to cover a lot.)

Can you share more info on the one that you know off. Any amount of interest free loan would help. Thanks

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Can you share more info one the one that you know off. Any amount of interest free loan would help. Thanks

I did.

ADDED: Also Scholarships – IMANA - Medical scholarship

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