Scholarship Help; Advice (costs, medical school, credits, private)

[dm3440]

Hello everyone,

I am a first year undergraduate student attending the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Rochester, NY. I have received enough financial aid to cover most of my expenses, but I am still in need. I really would like to continue my education here, but I can not do it without further assistance.

I do not have any private/outside scholarships. Though I have searched up and down the internet for a long time, I have been unsuccessful. My question: Can anyone point me in the right direction toward financial assistance? Does anyone know of any lesser known scholarships or organizations that I may look into that might help me (I say lesser known because, like I mentioned, I have been searching unsuccessfully for a long time)?

ANY leads will help. Thank everyone so very much ahead of time,

Below I have provided some of my information in hopes that it may help:

- Born in Bangladesh (South Asia) and moved to the Bronx, NY before I was a year old (Go Yankees)

- Attended Bard High School Early College in Manhattan (though I am a first year at RIT, graduating from this HS has given me enough credits to be considered second year status)

- My major is Biomedical Sciences and my current GPA is 3.570. I am hoping to attend medical school.

- Currently living on campus

[Aggiebuttercup]

Have you asked the school about work-study? At my school, I found a job working in the school computer lab for 20 hours a week. When I didn't have work study, I sometimes worked retail.

[golfgal]

Before you take any more time looking into outside scholarships, sit down with the financial aid office and see how they handle those scholarships. Many schools just reduce the aid they give you and you are not in any better shape financially. You can also talk to them about getting more work study or an on campus job to help cover your costs.

[bler144]

Originally Posted by golfgal

Before you take any more time looking into outside scholarships, sit down with the financial aid office and see how they handle those scholarships. Many schools just reduce the aid they give you and you are not in any better shape financially. You can also talk to them about getting more work study or an on campus job to help cover your costs.

Agree, though whether you would lose money based on outside scholarships is complex (is your current funding merit-based vs. need based, is it tuition-restricted or not, school policy on outside funds, etc.).

But golfgal is correct that your first move should be to sit down with the FA office at your campus. If you want a second opinion or clarification on what they tell you, then certainly we might be able to help. Maybe.