Amin Syed, VCOM-Virginia Class of 2022, is a 2018 winner of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation’s (JKCF) Cooke Graduate Scholarship. This highly selective award provides support to students with financial need to pursue graduate-level education. Eighty-two students will collectively receive approximately $7 million to attend some of the most competitive graduate institutions in the U.S. and the U.K.
VCOM’s own Amin Syed was awarded the Jack Cooke Scholarship before his admittance to the University of Virginia, where he earned his bachelor’s degree. As a recipient of the undergraduate scholarship, he qualified to be in the running for and ultimately received, the JKCF’s Cooke Graduate Scholarship. “It is an incredible honor to be selected, and I owe so much to the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. The continued support makes my dream of practicing medicine a reality. There are many deserving students in similar financial situations. It is my goal as a future doctor to pay it forward and inspire other students, like me who come from impoverished backgrounds,” said Amin.
He was one of 85 finalists from 3,705 applicants in the spring of 2014. Amin plans to be an internal or family medicine physician, focusing on underserved and rural populations.