MSAR is a must. You can also post a thread in WAMC (though I would use both MSAR and if you want, my spreadsheet in my sig to pick a preliminary list of schools) and friendly people will help you out. Read the rules at the top of the WAMC forum before you post though to help with format!
Help me to help you help me to help you help me to help you
In addition to the MSAR, I would recommend skimming the most recent School Specific Discussions threads for the schools you're most interested in applying to.
I built part of my school list based on the "Applications", "Interviewed" and "Matriculated" figures in MSAR, especially for schools that considered me OOS. For a couple of the newer, smaller schools on my list, I was baffled when they recently started reporting that they received almost double the number of applications I saw they had received in MSAR. I'd expected their numbers to increase, but not double within a year.
Eventually, I realized that the figures reported in MSAR don't reflect the most recent cycle. This isn't a huge deal for established schools, where the actual percentages are unlikely to change dramatically, but if you've got a handful of new schools on your list, it helps to have the most recent info. In browsing the School Specific Discussions threads for those schools from last year, the most recent info was there. Wasn't catastrophic, but would've been nice to know.
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