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Which podiatry schools give out the most scholarships (for the most money, of course)? What grades/MCAT scores would one need to qualify for these scholarships upon matriculation to pod. school?
Scholarship-happy schools?
- Thread starter HenryH
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Dr_Feelgood
Make sure you read the fine print on all scholarships. Most of the time you need to stay top 25% or keep a certain GPA. That means you get a nice scholarship for 1 year and then you are a stuck in a more expensive school or city.
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Scholl gives out a half tuition (like 13K) scholaraship for the first year to some students. I think you need an undergrad GPA of at least 3.6 (not sure about mcat scores). It is a one time deal.
If you think about it, most of the schools are located in big cities or metropolitan areas ie expensive cost of living. I would say dmu has the best cost of living, followed by ocpm.
If you think about it, most of the schools are located in big cities or metropolitan areas ie expensive cost of living. I would say dmu has the best cost of living, followed by ocpm.
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Dr_Feelgood
Agreed. Scholl is very close behind b/c the school is nowhere near the city.
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Yea, it's a bit far but not too bad. 1 hour train or 45 minutes driving from what I understand. I heard most people move downtown their 3rd year, and I feel it will be even moreso with the new curriculum.
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I think this is a good thing though. I believe you should have to work for a scholarship and prove you deserve it. So it makes sense for the school to dangle an easy one in front of you to get you into their school and then make you work for it thereafter.
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Dr_Feelgood
I completely agree, but prospective students should remember that scholarships are a recruitment tool and most students will lose that "recruitment tool." So don't let it sway your decision too much.
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Barry is a catholic school, and that means they're pretty good with overall student scholarships (grad, undergrad, athletic, etc), podiatry definitely included. Some people complain about the facilities here or that some of the buildings are dated, but that's largely because it's a religious institution and the administrators pride themselves by making sure that a lot of the money goes back to the students every year.
The main awards for podiatry students are detailed here:
http://www.barry.edu/podiatry/FinancialAid/Scholarships.htm
The basic one that most people in my class have, the podiatric merit scholarship, actually isn't too difficult to maintain if you work hard (3.0gpa each year). From talking to my classmates, the value is usually $2-8k per academic year (even more in a few cases), and that can really add up over the four years. My scholly is $4k per year, and when you factor $16k plus interest by graduation (assuming I get 3.0 again this third year), that does really help. A lot of incoming pod students here are now awarded a "podiatric academic scholarship" (I think that's the new term for my merit scholarship?), and the award amounts are based on mcat/gpa and timeline when students apply; students who apply late in the app cycle, even despite good stats, might not get a scholarship. There are also the smaller "dean's scholarships" (maybe $1-1.5k per year?)for students receiving no other scholarship/grant help. If you aren't given a merit scholarship or lose it due to low gpa, you can apply for those. Also, there are financial awards and scholarships for highest gpa or excellene in various areas of podiatric medicine (surgery, rad, biomech, diabetes, etc) upon graduation every year. From glancing at that page, it seems most scholarship stuff is largely the same, but keep in mind I was accepted almost 4yrs ago now and do be sure to contact the FinAid for most current info.
...As was mentioned, scholarships help, but they shouldn't be too big of a factor in picking a program. A lot of the biggest and best scholarships are hard to renew, or many schools do a pyramid system with many first years on scholarships but very little money for upperclassmen. Be wary of the "over 4 years" scholarships because chances are that you will never see most of that money. A smaller $ per year scholarship with renewal via resonable terms (such as annual 3.0gpa or rank in the top half of the class) might actually be better than a large or half tuition scholarship that will be lost after first year unless you are a highly elite student. Saving money is always a factor, but ultimately, you want the pod program that is right for you in an overall sense.
The main awards for podiatry students are detailed here:
http://www.barry.edu/podiatry/FinancialAid/Scholarships.htm
The basic one that most people in my class have, the podiatric merit scholarship, actually isn't too difficult to maintain if you work hard (3.0gpa each year). From talking to my classmates, the value is usually $2-8k per academic year (even more in a few cases), and that can really add up over the four years. My scholly is $4k per year, and when you factor $16k plus interest by graduation (assuming I get 3.0 again this third year), that does really help. A lot of incoming pod students here are now awarded a "podiatric academic scholarship" (I think that's the new term for my merit scholarship?), and the award amounts are based on mcat/gpa and timeline when students apply; students who apply late in the app cycle, even despite good stats, might not get a scholarship. There are also the smaller "dean's scholarships" (maybe $1-1.5k per year?)for students receiving no other scholarship/grant help. If you aren't given a merit scholarship or lose it due to low gpa, you can apply for those. Also, there are financial awards and scholarships for highest gpa or excellene in various areas of podiatric medicine (surgery, rad, biomech, diabetes, etc) upon graduation every year. From glancing at that page, it seems most scholarship stuff is largely the same, but keep in mind I was accepted almost 4yrs ago now and do be sure to contact the FinAid for most current info.
...As was mentioned, scholarships help, but they shouldn't be too big of a factor in picking a program. A lot of the biggest and best scholarships are hard to renew, or many schools do a pyramid system with many first years on scholarships but very little money for upperclassmen. Be wary of the "over 4 years" scholarships because chances are that you will never see most of that money. A smaller $ per year scholarship with renewal via resonable terms (such as annual 3.0gpa or rank in the top half of the class) might actually be better than a large or half tuition scholarship that will be lost after first year unless you are a highly elite student. Saving money is always a factor, but ultimately, you want the pod program that is right for you in an overall sense.
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Dr_Feelgood
What is the tuition like at Barry? That is another thing to look at. If they give you 8K in scholarship at school A and school A is 8K more in tuition than you don't gain anything.
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Barry's tuition (including essentially all fees) is $24,800 per year right now.
Barry's figure seemed pretty in line with the other pod schools and a bit under the pod school average based upon a quick glance of their websites. OCPM, Temple, and CSPM have the higher end tuitions based on their websites.
I think that the fees are a big factor that prospective students need to look at. Paying "only" $24k in basic tuition doesn't really mean anything if you then get slapped with lab, APMSA, expensive "required" equipment, parking, student service, etc fees on top of that.
Being nearly done with third year, the only additional fees that I can recall paying besides the basic tuition were for instruments (you choose what you need/want from Gill and therefore dictate cost) and ~$70 background check before clinics. There's always books, scrubs, board exam, etc, but I don't think any school provides those.
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Dr_Feelgood
What??? You need a background check for your clinics? Don't you think that this should be unnecessary? I would assume that the school doesn't take criminals. What happens if you don't pass the background check?
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We take a background check before school starts (paid for by school), and then we take another background check and drug test before we start clinics (~$70). I guess they just wanna be sure we didn't commit any felonies during the basic sciences years? 😀
Our clinical dean has worked pretty hard to get the students into a ton of the hospitals and clinics down here. Our local rotations for both pod and non-pod are pretty darn good, but some of them, especially the VA and some of the teaching hospitals, are really strict in terms of paperwork. We are instructed during clinical orientation to get a big checklist of things done and then keep a file with copies of everything (I have been asked for some of the documents by hospitals, esp when getting my ID badge at the start of a new rotation location). Also, even if some students ends up at more relaxed rotations, many of their externships might be stringent, so I guess they just want everyone to get all their background and immunization stuff done right at the start of 3rd year clinics just in case it's ever needed in the future.
As for people failing, I don't think anyone's failed a background check. Still, if you don't get the paperwork in by the deadline, you will end up stuck in just the school pod clinics and unable to do hospital rotations (or at least that's what we were told). I'm sure some people have procrastinated on getting their shots or drug test, and I don't know if their 3rd year hospital rotation options were indeed limited?
I guess I assumed all health profession students got drug tested, full physical, background check, ACLS, immunization record up-to-date, etc before clinics. It's not that way at other pod schools? I know this isn't unique to my program; the local DO students at Nova and MD students at UMiami have to do basically all of the same stuff.
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Dr_Feelgood
We have ACLS and immunization record up to date that is it. The VA runs a background check on us and registers our fingerprints, but that is only for the VA. Some students need to get a background check for clerkships. Maybe you need to do all of that b/c of the cocaine highway that runs through Miami. 😱 (Sad but true, I lived in Tampa)
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Found more info on Scholl's Merit Scholarships on their website...
Scholl Distinguished Scholar Award
"The College may award up to 25 Scholl Distinguished Scholar Awards during the academic year. The Distinguished
Scholar Award provides half of the annual tuition to the recipient. Up to 15 awards may be made to members
of the first-year class; up to 10 awards may be made to members of the second-year class. To be eligible for
consideration, entering first-year students must have completed a minimum of ninety (90) semester hours at the
time of application for admission, and have earned a cumulative grade point average of 3.6 (out of 4.0) or higher.
Letters of recommendation, faculty interview evaluations, and other pertinent data may be used in making the
selections. No special application for first-year entering students is needed. The awards are for one year and are
not renewable.
Second-year awards will be based on successful completion of the current academic year with a minimum grade point
average of 3.4. Requirements for selection may include, but are not limited to, essays, faculty recommendations, and
evaluation of extracurricular activities. Additional application information is available from the Office of the
Assistant Dean for Student Services. Selection is made by the Scholl Scholarship Committee. Distinguished
Scholar Awards are annual awards only and renewal is not guaranteed for any succeeding year."Scholar Award provides half of the annual tuition to the recipient. Up to 15 awards may be made to members
of the first-year class; up to 10 awards may be made to members of the second-year class. To be eligible for
consideration, entering first-year students must have completed a minimum of ninety (90) semester hours at the
time of application for admission, and have earned a cumulative grade point average of 3.6 (out of 4.0) or higher.
Letters of recommendation, faculty interview evaluations, and other pertinent data may be used in making the
selections. No special application for first-year entering students is needed. The awards are for one year and are
not renewable.
Second-year awards will be based on successful completion of the current academic year with a minimum grade point
average of 3.4. Requirements for selection may include, but are not limited to, essays, faculty recommendations, and
evaluation of extracurricular activities. Additional application information is available from the Office of the
Assistant Dean for Student Services. Selection is made by the Scholl Scholarship Committee. Distinguished
source- http://www.rosalindfranklin.edu/scpm/admissions.scholl/SchollCatalog.pdf page 21
So it looks like there is hope for renewal... 🙂
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Scholl's distinguished scholarship programme is a great deal if you're a good student and a hardworker. Most of pod school will simply be a lot of study time to do well, (it's not particle physics). Hence, if you happen to get a good scholarship out the door, go to that school, and make sure you'll be in the top 5 of your class and get your scholarship renewed. I think having ~12,500 thosand reasons to hit the books hard is a pretty good motivator...but that's just me.