Many of us are aware of the expensive tuition fees of medical school and how scarce scholarships are. Even state schools would charge tuition fees of $15,000 per semester, or even higher for the best medical schools. Add miscellaneous fees, books, rent, and even more expenses, you probably know why there aren’t as many scholarships available for those in medical schools.
Fortunately, there are ways to increase your chances and be given financial assistance or a scholarship to ease the expenses. Here are a few tips you can follow:
- Ask Your Premed Adviser
While learning how to get into medical school, you can ask your premed adviser about any available scholarships he may not about. There might be scholarships for students from specific undergraduate institutions given by their alumnae, so it doesn’t hurt to ask.
- Work and Study Hard
While it isn’t advertised, you can find various medical schools with academic scholarships, which are used for recruitment tools. For this, you’ll need to keep up above-average grades in hope of being offered a scholarship based on your performance as a premed student. Besides this, it’s helpful to show that you have done research projects, done community service, and had experience in the field of medicine.
Just proceed with your application process normally and do the best. Once accepted, you may be granted a recruitment incentive, though this happens rarely.
- Don’t Limit Your Applications
State schools might be more affordable at first, but they actually have fewer scholarships and grant money for their students. Schools with higher tuition fees might be able to give more grant money, which can help lower the tuition fees.
After being accepted by your chosen medical school, contact the financial aid officers and inquire if they have something they can offer to help with your expenses.
- Learn About the Different Scholarships
While there aren’t as many scholarships dedicated to medical students and schools, it’s still important to identify what they are. There are different scholarships that cater to all kinds of students, with the ability to pay for a substantial amount of your tuition. Here are some of the scholarships you may want to consider:
- Physicians of Tomorrow Awards by the American Medical Association Foundation ($10,000)
- Diverse Medical Scholars Program ($7,000)
- Tylenol Future Care Scholarship ($10,000)
- NYU School of Medicine offers full-tuition scholarships to students in the MD degree program, as long as they maintain excellent academic progress
- Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine waves tuitions and fees for classes in 2020-2024
- There are also public medical schools offering financial aid and scholarships, such as the University of California, David Geffen School of Medicine, and more.
Again, these are only some of the scholarships available, so do your research well and you may stumble on a few you might just be eligible in!
No one wants to end up with a ton of debt from medical school! Fortunately, there are ways you can get a scholarship, paying less or nothing at all. Hope this helped!