Caurice’s Medical School App Financial Assistance

            Applying to Medical School is a huge financial burden. First, the cost of the MCAT exam is $275. Most medical schools use the AAMC's American Medical College Application Service® (AMCAS®) to process applications. The fee is $160 for the first school and $36 for each additional school. The next step is the secondary application fee. The majority of medical schools require a secondary application. Those fees typically range from $25 to $100 per school. Not all schools participate in the AAMC, so there will be additional chargers for all outside schools I apply to. Ever since I was a young girl, medicine has been my biggest passion. It has been a struggle to make it thus far, and I do not want anything to prevent me from pursing my dream. Before creating this fundraiser I have reached out to my many resources and have yet to be successful. In January, I applied for the FAP (Fee Assistance Program), which provides waivers for all AMCAS fees for up to 15 medical schools. Unfortunately I found out recently that I was denied. I have visited the financial aid office numerous times and they explained that there are no grants allocated to paying for graduate appliations.  I cannot personally manage to pay for applications because I am not working. I am not working this summer so that I can take a Kaplan MCAT course in Syracuse and study for the MCAT’s 50 hrs a week. Becoming a doctor is my goal and I truly believe that if I get financial assistance and apply, I will get in and be on track to my dreams. So far I haven’t received any money towards paying for applications. It is normal to apply to 15- 20 medical schools because they are very competitive. My estimate is that the total cost of this process will $1,500- $2,000. I would be very appreciative if there is anything that you could do or anyone that I can contact that can help me fundraise for my application expenses. Thank You, I really hope that there is something that can be done in my time of need.