Perhaps its better to look at colleges that will give you fabulous institutional aid rather than hoping to land a very competitive outside scholarship.
Most scholarships come from the universities themselves. This is called “institutional aid”. In other words, the universities you select will condition the scholarships you receive (then you’ll receive federal aid, typically a $5,500 loan). That’s why people give you the names of colleges.
Excellent, smaller schools include Austin College, Southwestern University, and Trinity University, plus St Edward’s. All have an enviable track record for med school (way better than UHouston for instance), a close-knit community that may appeal to you since you come from essentially homeschooling, and would likely offer you scholarships -check out the conditions. All are also better than USt Thomas for med school admissions (ie., have a better track record of taking students from premed hopeful to actual med school).
UAlabama Honors should be a given, much better academically than UHouston too, more residential.
Check out UTDallas Mc Dermott Scholars - this is a full ride.
In short, you can attend better schools than UHouston on full tuition or full ride scholarships.
@rhandco Sorry! I realize now that it might have been a little confusing. I’m looking for outside scholarships that I would be a good competitor for and that would help me pay for school. I did not mention any specific schools because I’ve looked at the schools that I’m interested in and am familiar with their scholarships. Even though I may live at home during school, I could still use the help to cut down on the costs. My parents came forth with this information and have been very open with me discussing the terms of the agreement, even if it may not be contractually binding. I have used a few scholarship engines but have only found a lot of smaller scholarships. I posted this to CC to see if anyone had information about scholarships that offered large amounts of money. I would rather put a lot of effort into a few high dollar ones than put a little effort into a lot of low dollar ones, if that makes sense.
@jym6262 I have done this. My backup plan of the University of St. Thomas ($30,000 a year) will offer me $17,000 annually just on merit. I am Catholic, which will qualify me for an extra couple thousand. Also, UST offers a full tuition scholarship based on faith and merit that I have a good chance of getting.
^UTD McDermott Scholars application deadline was long passed.
Have you looked at the list of top, big ticket scholarships at the top of this forum? That said-- deadlines are long gone.
Dreams, will you be starting college fall of 2015? If so, the applications for many of these things have passed.
If you are starting college fall 2016, you have many more options open to you.
@MYOS1634 I understand institutional aid, which I will gladly apply for (if need be) and take. My goal is to not have to take out any loans. Any outside scholarships (if they equal enough) would help pay for Rice. If I don’t get enough in scholarships, then Rice is a no-go and UST is. I don’t qualify for financial aid, and UST won’t require any loans.
What I like about about UST is not only that it’s Catholic and will give me a lot of money but also that it is advancing in the medical and STEM sciences. They have plans of new buildings, and because of its location in the Texas Medical Center, it would give me a lot of opportunities for medicine. I haven’t looked that much into UT-D but will since it comes so highly recommended by CC and a friend of mine.
@4beardolls @jym626 @thumper1 I’m a junior this school year (AKA Class of 2016). If I’m not mistaken, I still have time to apply for scholarships and to honors programs.
Ah- as a junior- read the links at the top of this forum!
Dreams- a new building takes 10 years or so from plans to occupancy (less if the U already owns the land and has permits, more if there needs to be eminent domain legal challenges, zoning, etc.) So don’t pick a college on the basis of its plans for new buildings. You will have long graduated before those plans come to fruition.
You should also educate yourself on different paths to med school. There are some universities that have strong med school advising, can help you become a philosophy major or music major who ends up in med school, vs. a school with weak advising where you end up a bio major, not getting into med school after a few rounds (and applying overseas), and wondering why you’ve invested so many years without the prize.
It takes more than a location near a major medical center to provide the resources to undergrads who want a medical career… so take the time now to educate yourself. Moderate loans for a top notch undergraduate education which positions you well for med school, research (i.e. MD/PhD or similar), a corporate career in life sciences or pharma research, etc. may be “worth” more than a free ride to a school with weak support.
Good luck!
@blossom Thank you for your response! I understand that building a new building takes time, and I’m not choosing the school because of the new buildings. The location is just a plus. I have researched medical schools, their costs, their requirements, and how to best get in to them. My mother received a dual major in Finance and Biology from U of H, a Master’s in Nursing from TWU, and attended Baylor College of Medicine. She has given me a lot of insight about the whole ‘applying to med school’ process, even if it was twenty years ago when she did it. Even if you don’t go to strong pre-med school, you can still get to med school as long as you take the required classes, have a really good GPA, and score well on the MCAT. Weak support doesn’t matter as long as you know where you want to be and know the actions to take to get there.
There aren’t any “big” outside scholarships. There are lots of “small” ($200, $500…) ones, mostly local, but these can’t pay for tuition, since you can’t possibly win enough to pay for a year -not to mention they’re often not renewable.
The scholarships come from the school.
Check into the schools listed above, not just UTDallas Mc Dermott, but all of them.
Why St Thomas, but not St Edward’s (which has a good track record for med school acceptance)?
Your mother is absolutely correct that the key elements are a high GPA, the pre-reqs, and a high score on the MCAT.
The undergraduate school doesn’t matter, but the support does, as well as the mass of students that do end up going to med school (or not), and the general quality of your experience. You don’t need to go to a tippy top school, but you do need a certain mass of dedicated students to ensure the breadth and depth of the classes, as well as the quality of labs/discussions, won’t hold you back.
UHouston’s average ACT is 24, with 42% in the 12-23 bracket, and only 16% graduate in 4 years. At St Thomas, the average ACT also is 24, and 26% graduate in 4 years. (It’d be good if it were 50% and more, even for lower tiered schools.) At St Edward’s, the average ACT is similar but the average graduation rate is much greater (25 ACT, 52% graduation rate). The same percentage students were top 10% in secondary school yet the graduation rate is so different, certainly some things affect students" graduation.
UT Dallas is a bit different, with a 28 ACT average even outside of MCDermott.
??? No big outside scholarships? Gates Millenium? Coca Cola? Toyota community? Nordsroms? These aren’t pocket change.
Right, but OP does not qualify for FA so GM isn’t an option.
Thats true, but to say there aren’t big outside scholarship inst accurate. Maybe it depends on ones definition of “big”. AXA is another “big” one.
^I don’t think OP is in the running for Coca Cola, Gates Millenium, etc. due to her financial status.
Sure, she can apply for AXA, but getting one of those is as selective as getting into Harvard.
OP there’s a forum on this website that’s been linked, it’s got a list of all the big scholarships, you’ll have to sift through them because you may not meet the criteria (many are for lower income students, some are specifically for certain groups or majors…)
This family has no financial need, which will put them out of the running for a lot of those big ticket scholarships. And none of them is a slam dunk anyway.
But the right college could give this kid a lot of merit aid…a lot…which would soften the financial aid blow.
What about Rhodes College? It’s small, and with her stats, and a great SAT score, she could be in the running for a great scholarship there. There are many opportunities for undergrad research, and other related experiences.
@MYOS1634 I’m not looking for something to pay full tuition, just something to help. I am familiar with smaller scholarships but wanted to reach out to the CC community to see if anyone knew of anything bigger. I didn’t have a counselor at my old school and changed schools for my junior year. I do have a counselor now, but I haven’t been in contact with her a lot. Before this year, I have had to research places for PSAT, ways to study for SAT/ACT, and basically everything else by myself with the help of my mom. I haven’t had the resources to find a lot of scholarships, which is where CC comes in.
Support doesn’t need many years to grow, and with everything that I’ve heard about UST, it’s an okay school for pre-med right now. I choose St. Thomas over St. Ed’s because of location mostly. Houston beats Austin in my eyes and for my wants/needs. I have a friend who is a junior at A&M but attended St. Ed’s for her freshman year; she raves about it. But I also know many people who attend and have attended UST and rave about it. So who knows what is affecting graduation rate.
I have looked through the first couple scholarships in that forum and will continue looking at them tonight.
Agree that these top dollar scholarships are VERY competitive. Not all are need based. We are responding to the OPs question, but all directing her to colleges with generous merit aid.
Support isn’t just about advising although there may be nuances since your mom’s time that could be helpful to you. Support is also about someone in the administration getting you into a course which is over-subscribed if that’s the course you need right now, in sequence (e.g. organic chemistry). Support is about making sure you are in the right calculus section. Support is about introducing you to a faculty member who can push your application with the right people for a summer fellowship opportunity.
A college with a low four year graduation rate likely has a lot of students who are balancing work and school- which is tough. But it may also be a college which has not invested in the kind of human beings who exist at other colleges to make sure that kids who show up as Freshman leave four years later with a degree, ready to be launched.
And if by junior year you decide you don’t want to be a physician but are interested in a career in research, public health, bioinformatics, pharmaceutical regulation, etc. support means that there are people who can help you redirect academically without needing a fifth year (which costs $) and putting your budget for grad school in jeopardy.
Good luck to you. You have time to research a bunch of other options, even if today you think you know exactly what path you want to take.