Making Atlantis Possible: Your Financing & Aid Options
We believe that valuable pre-health experiences like Atlantis should be accessible. Whether you’re ready to pay upfront or need some help along the way, we offer flexible options to make your program affordable.
Here’s a quick overview — we’ll break these down in more detail below:
Two Ways to Pay
- Pay in Full – Settle your balance when you sign up and you’re all set
- Interest-Free Monthly Payments – Spread out your payments from signup to just before your program starts.
Two Forms of Financial Aid
- Student-Led Fundraising – A proven, mission-minded approach to raising funds — often helping students significantly offset the cost of their program.
- Scholarships – Need-based aid available for qualified students.
How To Pay
While fundraising and other aid options can help reduce your out-of-pocket cost, most students choose to pay Atlantis directly. No matter which payment option you choose, you’ll begin by reserving your spot with a $900 deposit — already included in the total program price.
Two Payment Timelines
1. Pay in Full
2. Monthly Payments
Financial Aid
At Atlantis, we believe that every student aspiring to medical or PA school should have access to meaningful clinical experiences abroad—regardless of financial circumstances. If you’re committed to your future in healthcare, and Atlantis aligns with your path, we’re confident you can make it happen—and we’re here to help you do it.
Beyond the two primary payment options mentioned above, many students cover some or all of the program cost through fundraising and scholarships. These alternative options are often more accessible than you might think.
Two Forms of Financial Aid
1. Student-Led Fundraising (The Most Effective Way to Pay for Your Program)
Fundraising may sound intimidating, but in reality, it’s one of the quickest and most successful ways students have financed their Atlantis experience. We’ve seen time and time again that pre-health students often underestimate how much support they can raise when they share their story authentically.
Whether you’re launching a GoFundMe campaign or sending personalized support letters, the key is connecting your community to your goals. When people see how Atlantis fits into your journey toward becoming a physician or PA, they want to support you.
In fact, based on our observations and student-reported outcomes, those who follow our fundraising guidance typically raise over $2,000, with many covering the entire cost of the program. Plus, you can consider using the story of your fundraising efforts in your med school applications and interviews, since it directly highlights AAMC competency #8, Resilience & Adaptability.
When you apply, our admissions team can help you get fundraising started. If you’d like to learn more before applying, feel free to contact us or ask to be connected with an Atlantis alum to understand their perspective on fundraising. You can also see examples of student’s GoFundMe campaigns below.
Atlantis GoFundMe Examples
Claire Hembree
- Raised $3,720 to shadow in Italy
Miles Warren
- Raised $4,828 to shadow in Greece
Lexi Hardeman
- Raised $1,871 to shadow in Spain
Elechi Egwuekwe
- Raised $2,700 to shadow in Italy
Ariyan Cox
- Raised $3,540 to shadow in Portugal
Sheridan Waldrop
- Raised $4,000 to shadow in Europe
Reagan Knightstep
- Raised $3,760 to shadow in Portugal
Caleb Lopez
- Raised $5,400 to shadow in Spain
Jeremy Nelson
- Raised $2,803 to shadow in Europe
2. Scholarships & University-Based Funding
Many Atlantis students successfully apply for scholarships and grants through their university or external organizations. There are numerous programs that fund students for enriching educational experiences abroad, including summer programs. Be sure to explore opportunities through your school’s study abroad office, pre-health advising center, or financial aid department.
When applying for these awards, be sure to explain the proven impact of Atlantis. Thousands of alumni have benefitted from the program—not just because of the international setting, but because Atlantis is intentionally designed to align with what admissions committees value: immersive clinical shadowing, global exposure, and reflection time. Highlighting why Atlantis works so well can help strengthen your scholarship application.
Atlantis also offers a limited number of need-based partial scholarships to certain programs. These are credited to the program invoice and not given out as cash. Scholarships are awarded on a rolling basis, so it’s best so apply early. Get more information and start your application here.
Anyone Can Do It
Fundraising is Smart: If You Were a Med/PA School, Which of These Two Applicants Would You Pick?
Factor
Person A
Person A
Person B
Factor
- Mid to Low
- Mid to Low
- Same as Person A
- Median
- Median
- Same as Person A
- Has basic US shadowing from local hospital
- Has basic US shadowing from local hospital
- Same as Person A
- Enrolled in 360 Shadowing with Atlantis
- Enrolled in 360 Shadowing with Atlantis
- Spent lots of energy finding beyond-basic shadowing
- The same as before since most was fundraised and the rest was paid by part-time work with the time saved from not searching for shadowing
- The same as before since most was fundraised and the rest was paid by part-time work with the time saved from not searching for shadowing
- No change
- Fundraised most of the Atlantis fee following
Atlantis’ fundraising methodology, showing entrepreneurialism and initiative, showcasing that in med/PA school applications and interviews
- Fundraised most of the Atlantis fee following
Atlantis’ fundraising methodology, showing entrepreneurialism and initiative, showcasing that in med/PA school applications and interviews
- Median
- Higher GPA/MCAT due to focus on classes
- Higher GPA/MCAT due to focus on classes
- Median
Value For Money
Why Atlantis Is Worth It
Medical schools look for three key things: strong healthcare exposure, high academic performance (GPA and MCAT), and demonstrated core competencies like cultural awareness, professionalism, and communication. Atlantis helps you stand out by supporting all three areas:
- Unmatched Healthcare Exposure – Atlantis offers immersive, international hospital shadowing experiences that go far beyond what students typically find in their home countries. You’ll observe physicians across a variety of specialties, gaining insights into global healthcare systems—something that stands out in applications and interviews.
- More Time for GPA and MCAT – Because Atlantis programs run primarily during academic breaks, they don’t compete with your coursework. That means you can get meaningful clinical experience without sacrificing study time during the semester.
- Stronger Competency Development – Through cross-cultural experiences, reflection, and real-world observation, Atlantis helps you grow the key qualities that medical schools value—like adaptability, empathy, and maturity—while giving you the stories and insights to prove it in your personal statement and interviews.
Bottom line: Atlantis is more than shadowing—it’s a smart way to become a stronger, more competitive medical school applicant.
Watch Video: 20+ Alumni Now In Med School Explain:
Atlantis Is a Major Reason I Got In Here
Value For Money
Additional Ways Atlantis Delivers
Read about more how Atlantis proves its value, including covering a lot of ground on medical school applications and making the most of your break.
Atlantis Covers a Lot of
Ground on Your Med School App
Shown above is a simplified screenshot of the AMCAS application. Highlighted parts indicate areas where Atlantis makes an impact. Most of the unhighlighted area is purely biographic – contact information, where you went to school, course history, etc. In areas like #5 (Work/Activities) and #8 (Essays), Atlantis easily sets you above 90%+ of med school applicants.
Compare Standard Break
Opportunities with Atlantis
| Standard Break Options | Possible Advantages of Atlantis Over Each Option |
|---|---|
| Volunteer in a Low-to-Middle-Income Country (sometimes doing hands-on work with patients, which can result in automatic rejection by med schools) |
Do observation-only shadowing (AAMC compliant), interacting closely with doctors who have jobs more similar to those in the U.S. Add a diverse perspective to your future medical school class, since pre-med international experience in Europe is more rare |
| Study abroad in a non-healthcare-related program | Make study abroad a major help for your pre-med path, instead of something that does not contribute directly to your goals |
| Work to earn money | Shadow for a few weeks and work the rest of break – keeping in mind how valuable the investment is and the available payment plans you have |
| Shadow domestically | Supplement domestic experiences with shadowing in Europe in order to gain depth, breadth, quantity of hours, and intercultural perspective |
| Research | Get clinical experience – required by all med/PA schools, whereas research is usually not required. For schools that do not require research, great healthcare exposure beats research, if you have to choose. |
Take this as just one set of reasons. Any option on the left is a fair and reasonable option for certain circumstances. However, we are seeking to equip you with data you can use to make the decision that is best for you.
What’s Included
Atlantis programs include ~20h/week of shadowing, housing, breakfast daily, some other group meals, transportation, travel health insurance, and more. The majority of fees go toward year-round partnership development as well as ongoing operations, logistics, and promotion. Students are responsible for flights, transportation to and from the airport, and other meals. Based on past students’ experience, we advise budgeting $150 of spending money per week. See the full list of what’s included here.
We encourage students to research flying from various U.S./Canadian cities and to look at various departure dates, as you may want to take advantage of traveling before or after your program – especially if it will drastically reduce the price of your airline ticket. Check out our flight tips for some helpful advice!
Refund & Program Credit Policy
The $900 deposit is not refundable, but it will carry over as program credit (except in the case of last minute withdrawals, as seen below). See the full policy below:
| Policy | Date Effective |
|---|---|
| Full refund, deposit counted as credit toward future programs | >90 days before program |
| No refund, 100% of paid fees (including deposit) counted as credit toward future programs | <=90 (but >45) days before program |
| No refund, 20% of paid fees (including deposit) counted as credit toward future programs | <=45 days before program |