Record Number of Applicants this year- some examples

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dhinaabi

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Alright, so I've heard from a number of admissions reps that this year the schools have seen record numbers of applications. One example is George Washington University School of Medicine. I spoke face to face with one of their reps in late September and they said that at that time they already had 11,000 applications in. Last year they had a total of 10,095 at the end of the entire process. So if they had 11,000 in late september I'm guessing they could end up with 16,000 applications (at least) by the end of the cycle for 165 spots. Thats like a 70% increase in the number of applications!!!

Also spoke with another Virginia MD school at the same time in late september and they said that as of late september, they were filling up interview spots for late january. and the thing was that february was their last month of interviews. So it seems like so many of the schools are filled up already!!!

Any comments, and why could this be??? (maybe last paper mcat administration???)
 
dhinaabi said:
Alright, so I've heard from a number of admissions reps that this year the schools have seen record numbers of applications. One example is George Washington University School of Medicine. I spoke face to face with one of their reps in late September and they said that at that time they already had 11,000 applications in. Last year they had a total of 10,095 at the end of the entire process. So if they had 11,000 in late september I'm guessing they could end up with 16,000 applications (at least) by the end of the cycle for 165 spots. Thats like a 70% increase in the number of applications!!!

Also spoke with another Virginia MD school at the same time in late september and they said that as of late september, they were filling up interview spots for late january. and the thing was that february was their last month of interviews. So it seems like so many of the schools are filled up already!!!

Any comments, and why could this be??? (maybe last paper mcat administration???)
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it's because of rise of television programs focused on how "cool" lives of doctors are. Ex. ER, Scrubs, Gray's Anatomy, House, Nip Tuck and now 3lbs.
 
dhinaabi said:
Alright, so I've heard from a number of admissions reps that this year the schools have seen record numbers of applications. One example is George Washington University School of Medicine. I spoke face to face with one of their reps in late September and they said that at that time they already had 11,000 applications in. Last year they had a total of 10,095 at the end of the entire process. So if they had 11,000 in late september I'm guessing they could end up with 16,000 applications (at least) by the end of the cycle for 165 spots. Thats like a 70% increase in the number of applications!!!

Also spoke with another Virginia MD school at the same time in late september and they said that as of late september, they were filling up interview spots for late january. and the thing was that february was their last month of interviews. So it seems like so many of the schools are filled up already!!!

Any comments, and why could this be??? (maybe last paper mcat administration???)
Click to expand...


Schools are not filled up already. Bear in mind that additional applications does not mean more applicants. Probably as average numerical stats are inching up in MSAR people are applying more widely.
I also suspect, sadly, that some of the increase is due to people are applying because of all the medical TV shows -- there are more on primetime now (and in the last few years) than ever before.
 
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Yea, I think while individual schools may see huge increases in applicants, the AMCAS applications won't jump nearly as high. As a result, I might expect to see a lot of waitlist movement this year, if people are applying to a crazy number of schools.
 
The application process has gotten much easier now. Five years ago when most of my friends were applying, electronic applications were still rare adn most people I knew applied to about 7-10 schools, now it has increased to 15 (at my school). That right there will account for an influx in application at some med schools. Also, kids nowadays may have more resources to apply to more schools. I remember reading about how the 90's boom have lead to more disposable income in families which may allow students to pay for more applications (not sure how true this is). Then there's the 'cycle' of med school applications. The early 90s were hard for premeds, then it became easier.....are were due for another increase in apps?

How much TV shows helped encourages students is beyond me since medical shows have always been fairly popular in primetime TV.
 
dhinaabi said:
Alright, so I've heard from a number of admissions reps that this year the schools have seen record numbers of applications. One example is George Washington University School of Medicine. I spoke face to face with one of their reps in late September and they said that at that time they already had 11,000 applications in. Last year they had a total of 10,095 at the end of the entire process. So if they had 11,000 in late september I'm guessing they could end up with 16,000 applications (at least) by the end of the cycle for 165 spots. Thats like a 70% increase in the number of applications!!!

Also spoke with another Virginia MD school at the same time in late september and they said that as of late september, they were filling up interview spots for late january. and the thing was that february was their last month of interviews. So it seems like so many of the schools are filled up already!!!

Any comments, and why could this be??? (maybe last paper mcat administration???)
Click to expand...

Just because some schools are getting more applications doesn't mean that the actual number of applicants has increased (or increased as much as those numbers would suggest). It's most likely a combination of (1) an increased
number of applicants and (2) applicants applying to more schools, creating a higher number of applications.
 
I wonder if you're right that the glorification of medicine on TV is partially behind an increase in applicants (because I suspect the number of applicants is up, too). If so, applicants might be disappointed to learn what medicine is really like. I also have a lot of faith in the vetting process that admissions committees have for sloughing off applicants who don't know what they're getting into.

That said, I hope college students have enough common sense to know that TV and medicine don't share a lot of resemblance -- unless TV shows have started portraying the ER as substantially a primary care clinic for the uninsured.

I do love House though.
 
Interviewer: So why are you interested in medicine?
Applicant: Because Dr. House is my idol!
Interviewer: Get the F*ck out of my office.
 
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PhotoMD said:
That said, I hope college students have enough common sense to know that TV and medicine don't share a lot of resemblance -- unless TV shows have started portraying the ER as substantially a primary care clinic for the uninsured.

I do love House though.
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I would also hope so, but I believe that in practice this is not the case. Shows like CSI and Crossing Jordan really drove up the number of people wanting to get into that industry, only to realize that it's tedious, boring work where you don't get to bust the bad guy and almost never can paint an entirely perfect picture based solely on your evidence. Also, during my interviews a lot of people were talking about Grey's Anatomy, which really had me concerned. I know this isn't proof, since Grey's Anatomy is one of the hottest shows on TV, it just concerned me.
 
dhinaabi said:
Alright, so I've heard from a number of admissions reps that this year the schools have seen record numbers of applications. One example is George Washington University School of Medicine. I spoke face to face with one of their reps in late September and they said that at that time they already had 11,000 applications in. Last year they had a total of 10,095 at the end of the entire process. So if they had 11,000 in late september I'm guessing they could end up with 16,000 applications (at least) by the end of the cycle for 165 spots. Thats like a 70% increase in the number of applications!!!

Also spoke with another Virginia MD school at the same time in late september and they said that as of late september, they were filling up interview spots for late january. and the thing was that february was their last month of interviews. So it seems like so many of the schools are filled up already!!!

Any comments, and why could this be??? (maybe last paper mcat administration???)
Click to expand...


For some reason this was bugging me so i need to point it out 11000 to 16000 applicants is a 45% increase not 70%(~19000). I know its pointless but it was bothering me.

The number of unique applicants will probably turn out to be the same or only a slight increase. Unlike law school pursuing a medical career usually takes several years to create the applicant profile, so i would wonder if the rise in doctor shows has had that much affect yet.
 
Application numbers are likely to be slightly higher this year but the number of medical schools also increased this year too. It is likely that it will be more difficult to get into some schools but less difficult to get into others. Overall, your chances will depend on what how competitive you are in the first place and how you applied.

That being said, the academic numbers for applicants (at my two schools) are higher than in previous years and our number of applications received are significantly higher. More folks have taken an interest in these schools specifically. Next year, they may drop significantly as in my conversations with my colleages in admissions, some schools DID see a drop in applicants for some unknown reason.

The bottom line, some schools have record numbers but I don't think that TV has much of an effect. Most people don't make plans to apply to medical school on a whim or in one year unless they are pretty familiar with the process. The coursework and MCAT alone take a minimum of two years.
 
njbmd said:
The bottom line, some schools have record numbers but I don't think that TV has much of an effect. Most people don't make plans to apply to medical school on a whim or in one year unless they are pretty familiar with the process.
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I hope you are right. However it is hard to deny that forensics saw a rise in the wake of the CSI shows, and a while back law schools saw a big rise when LA Law was on prime time TV. Most of the popular doctor shows have been on the air for a couple of years now, having more recently hit critical mass, and would only have to sway those who had taken the prereqs and were on the fence to show a notable rise in applications.
 
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Law2Doc said:
I hope you are right. However it is hard to deny that forensics saw a rise in the wake of the CSI shows, and a while back law schools saw a big rise when LA Law was on prime time TV. Most of the popular doctor shows have been on the air for a couple of years now, having more recently hit critical mass, and would only have to sway those who had taken the prereqs and were on the fence to show a notable rise in applications.
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lol, too bad there isn't a show for professional engineers.
 
Law2Doc said:
Schools are not filled up already. Bear in mind that additional applications does not mean more applicants. Probably as average numerical stats are inching up in MSAR people are applying more widely.
I also suspect, sadly, that some of the increase is due to people are applying because of all the medical TV shows -- there are more on primetime now (and in the last few years) than ever before.
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correct english?
 
And when the ratings for those shows drops, the networks will pull them off-air and then we might see a small drop in the number of people taking the MCAT! As long as the number of spots for incoming students remains the same the following can see an increase in revenue: science departments, test prep companies, AMCAS and med schools! All thanks to tv. But with youtube and the internet, do people still watch tv as they used to? Maybe that explains the variety in show offerings of the same genre to keep people amused and glued to the telly.
 
mdthisyear said:
Maybe that explains the variety in show offerings of the same genre to keep people amused and glued to the telly.
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Network/cable executives are like sheep. If one network has success with a particular genre, they all try that genre. When millionaire got good ratings, all the networks put gameshows back on prime time. When CSI got big, a lot of other forensic shows appeared. And so too with the doctor shows. The public will lose interest, eventually, and things may recede back to baseline.
And then we will see the next generation of potential premeds following their real dreams of becoming america's top model, top chef or flava flav's girlfriend.:laugh:
 
I am going to try out a different interpretation of the current increase in applications to med schools. I see this phenomena as a confluence of several events in the national economy. First, there is a shortage of physicians in several specialties as well as in a variety of geographic areas. Add to that the job security associated with being a health care worker. Further, add in a phenomena that I think of as the declining quality of employment in America. Sure, there are jobs but there is also a lot of talent applying for those jobs and that constrains wages. Compensation is further eroded by the ability of large employers to out source a variety of jobs to lower cost venues such as Malasia and India. When all of these issues are considered, the mean family income in America is increasing rather slowly.

I look upon the increase in applications to medical schools as the rational quest by young people for more stable life long high wage employment. People do not want to retrain again and again for new careers as they age. Most people would prefer to get the majority of their career training finished early in life and then enjoy the return on that investment for as long as possible without major interuptions in income and family plans that may be forced upon them by a need to learn a new profession later in life.
 
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It's because everyone is staying away from dentistry now and trying to get into medicine. Woops.......i got that the wrong way around.
 
njbmd said:
Application numbers are likely to be slightly higher this year but the number of medical schools also increased this year too. It is likely that it will be more difficult to get into some schools but less difficult to get into others. Overall, your chances will depend on what how competitive you are in the first place and how you applied.

That being said, the academic numbers for applicants (at my two schools) are higher than in previous years and our number of applications received are significantly higher. More folks have taken an interest in these schools specifically. Next year, they may drop significantly as in my conversations with my colleages in admissions, some schools DID see a drop in applicants for some unknown reason.

The bottom line, some schools have record numbers but I don't think that TV has much of an effect. Most people don't make plans to apply to medical school on a whim or in one year unless they are pretty familiar with the process. The coursework and MCAT alone take a minimum of two years.
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what schools are less difficult to get into this year as opposed to past years??
 
TheProwler said:
Modern Marvels on the History Channel?
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Modern Marvels is awesome, although i try to stay away from the History Channel because it can easily suck away the time from my life and i would have no idea where it went. The History channel is so freaking addictive
 
njbmd said:
The bottom line, some schools have record numbers but I don't think that TV has much of an effect. Most people don't make plans to apply to medical school on a whim or in one year unless they are pretty familiar with the process. The coursework and MCAT alone take a minimum of two years.
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this is what i meant...
 
University of Chicago had 9,000 applicants this cycle (according to their ADCOM staff I talked to). In 2005 they had 3,800 applicants. That is crazy increase! What is going on? Are people just applying to more schools each now, or what? It makes odds of acceptance for any one school go WAY down.

I'm discouraged by the number of applicants this cycle...
 
Law2Doc said:
And then we will see the next generation of potential premeds following their real dreams of becoming america's top model, top chef or flava flav's girlfriend.:laugh:
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I'll thank you to stop mocking my life's ambition!
 
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BaylorGuy said:
Modern Marvels is awesome, although i try to stay away from the History Channel because it can easily suck away the time from my life and i would have no idea where it went. The History channel is so freaking addictive
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My favorite is the military guy who yells all the time. How could someone be that angry?
 
NonTradMed said:
The application process has gotten much easier now. Five years ago when most of my friends were applying, electronic applications were still rare adn most people I knew applied to about 7-10 schools, now it has increased to 15 (at my school). That right there will account for an influx in application at some med schools. Also, kids nowadays may have more resources to apply to more schools. I remember reading about how the 90's boom have lead to more disposable income in families which may allow students to pay for more applications (not sure how true this is). Then there's the 'cycle' of med school applications. The early 90s were hard for premeds, then it became easier.....are were due for another increase in apps?

How much TV shows helped encourages students is beyond me since medical shows have always been fairly popular in primetime TV.
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👍

I think the ease of the application process has a lot to do with it. As the process gets streamlined with more incorporation of web-based application procedures, it's effectively like lowering the application fee for each school--less of a barrier to application.
 
I used to watch Star Trek a lot on TV...but you don't see me applying to Starfleet now do you?







🙄 wow this studying is turning me into a nerd.
 
i doubt it's the rise of medical shows that has much to do with med school applications. here's my input. If you figure it takes a couple of years to officially be eligible to apply to medical school (because of prereqs and taking the mcat) you have to eliminate any factor that could have caused applications to skyrocket in the immediate short run. You can also say that the majority of applicants in this cycle or any given cycle are college seniors and that when they were freshmen (year 2003) the economy was in a recession (it might still be, it depends on which economist you talk to). At that point there were more freshmen than usual to declare as pre med because medicine is thought of as financially stable. Those freshmen are now applying to medical school, hence the increased amount of applications.

I suppose for the next 2 years of so, applications will still continue to be high.
 
Julius Erving said:
University of Chicago had 9,000 applicants this cycle (according to their ADCOM staff I talked to). In 2005 they had 3,800 applicants. That is crazy increase! What is going on? Are people just applying to more schools each now, or what? It makes odds of acceptance for any one school go WAY down.

I'm discouraged by the number of applicants this cycle...
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i'm not saying you're lying, but does this seem reasonably possible? Grades and MCATs are always going up so I think we can assume that increasing competitiveness is not leading to such a big surge.

we are left with TV shows and last paper MCAT. TV shows we can pretty much disregard b/c there's no way it can account for 100%+ increase. as for last paper MCAT, i believe most applicants are still college seniors so its not like they have a choice when they apply.

so basically...i don't think this is possible. perhaps the admissions officer accidentally said the wrong number? or made one up? i'm curious to read next year's MSAR...i'd be floored if schools showed huge (30%+) increases in applicants.
 
bubbachuck said:
i'm not saying you're lying, but does this seem reasonably possible? Grades and MCATs are always going up so I think we can assume that increasing competitiveness is not leading to such a big surge.

we are left with TV shows and last paper MCAT. TV shows we can pretty much disregard b/c there's no way it can account for 100%+ increase. as for last paper MCAT, i believe most applicants are still college seniors so its not like they have a choice when they apply.

so basically...i don't think this is possible. perhaps the admissions officer accidentally said the wrong number? or made one up? i'm curious to read next year's MSAR...i'd be floored if schools showed huge (30%+) increases in applicants.
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You guys will be surprised when they publish the numbers for applicants this year. From what I have heard from 3 schools it is close to double, that is why the process this year is a lot slower. And Yes it is the TV shows, how else can you explain increasing applications while physician compensation/satisfaction is taking a nose dive.
 
People are probably just submitting more applications. I'd wager the over all number of applicants isn't significantly higher than previous years. This increase in applications is encouraged by schools, as it brings in tons of MONEY for amcas and admissions departments.
 
sirus_virus said:
You guys will be surprised when they publish the numbers for applicants this year. From what I have heard from 3 schools it is close to double, that is why the process this year is a lot slower. And Yes it is the TV shows, how else can you explain increasing applications while physician compensation/satisfaction is taking a nose dive.
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TV shows...amazing. There's no way a TV show will force me to study/take the MCAT and fork over $1000s for applications. esp since the TV shows paint such a cynical view of medicine.
 
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sirus_virus said:
You guys will be surprised when they publish the numbers for applicants this year. From what I have heard from 3 schools it is close to double, that is why the process this year is a lot slower. And Yes it is the TV shows, how else can you explain increasing applications while physician compensation/satisfaction is taking a nose dive.
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Well, how else do you explain the large increase in college applications, especially at top schools? The baby boomers' kids (boomlets) are entering college in full swing and there is a bigger incentive to go to college than ever before (wage gaps between noncollege grad and college grad increasing). I think that right there helps to explain the raising applications. But I think the biggest culprit is the ease of application. When I attended college, my friends applied, on average to 8-10 schools, now it is up to 12-15. That will translate into substantial increase in applications per schools (even as the numbers of unique applicants only increases marginally).

I guess TV shows do shine a brighter spotlight on medicine, but they have been around for a long time....also, nowadays, medical TV shows tend to show flawed doctors whereas in the past, they showed the 'doctor is god' picture of medicine.
 
Pinkertinkle said:
People are probably just submitting more applications. I'd wager the over all number of applicants isn't significantly higher than previous years. This increase in applications is encouraged by schools, as it brings in tons of MONEY for amcas and admissions departments.
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I'm inclined to agree that the number of applications filed per applicant is up significantly. I also think the number of applicants is up.

I doubt, however, that medical schools encourage these increases in order to make money from the fees. An extra 2000 applications at $75 apiece is a drop in the bucket for a school with a budget in the tens of $millions, and processing costs eat up a percentage of that drop.
 
steppwolf said:
I'm inclined to agree that the number of applications filed per applicant is up significantly. I also think the number of applicants is up.

I doubt, however, that medical schools encourage these increases in order to make money from the fees. An extra 2000 applications at $75 apiece is a drop in the bucket for a school with a budget in the tens of $millions, and processing costs eat up a percentage of that drop.
Click to expand...

There's also that unsettling rumor that med school tuitions dont' actually cover the full cost of training a doctor...not sure how true that is, but I'm thinking, based on the variations of tuition at different schools, at least a few schools are not making money off of tuition dollars.
 
bubbachuck said:
TV shows...amazing. There's no way a TV show will force me to study/take the MCAT and fork over $1000s for applications. esp since the TV shows paint such a cynical view of medicine.
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As it has been said, anyone with such a superficial interest in medicine that they chose the field based on a tv show is likely to abandon ship long before they hit applications (I'd say somewhere between orgo I and the MCAT 🙂). I mean, I love Grey's Anatomy, but the fact that it's set in the medical world is pretty incidental to me liking the show. 👍

It's more about the economy. When I was a college freshman the dot com boom was still going, and if a mediocre English major even considered going into i-banking they could land a six-figure starting salary. By the time I graduated in 2003, the economy was going sour and I knew econ majors with incredible resumes having trouble finding jobs....and simultaneously grad school applications were on the rise. It's not just a phenomenon in medicine, it's happening in law and many other professional/grad fields....and if anything, the increase in application numbers was delayed in medicine because of the lag caused by prereqs.
 
I read through many of the posts on this thread and here's my take on it.

First, George Washington had 11,037 applications last year, not 10,095[1]. Given that the application deadline should be quickly approaching, I don't foresee the school receiving many more applications. Second, there has been a recent trend in more people applying to medical school since 2002 [2]. I blame the economy. In 1996, 46,965 people applied to medical school. Then along came the Internet boom and all of the people who planned to go into medicine for the money jumped ship to computer science. Every year from 1996-2002 saw a decline in the number of applicants. Once the recession hit and jobs became scarce, the number of applicants began picking up. With 39,000 applicants last compared to 46,000 applicants a decade ago, we are hardly at the point of having a record number of applicants (although I admit that I do foresee more people applying this year than last).

I doubt television has anything to do with the trend. While Grey's Anatomy and House may pique someone's interest in medicine, they can hardly be blamed for making a life decision. Law2Doc cited LA Law for the increase in law school applications. Again, I blame the tech boom. With such a strong focus on intellectual property during the late 90s, companies had to hire more attorneys and the demand for certain fields skyrocketed. A lawyer friend of mind estimated that the average salary for specialties doubled during that time period. I found one source that shows a recent decline in the number of people applying to law school [3].


[1] http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/2006/2006school.htm
[2] http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/2006/2006slr.htm
[3] http://www.lsac.org/LSAC.asp?url=lsac/LSAC-volume-summary.asp
 
Robizzle said:
EXTREME ENGINEERING@! Woo!
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Yes, a very exciting concept. 😀

Well, for the math aficionados, there is that show "Numbers" out there, although it is ridiculously unrealistic. However, if it manages to create some interest in math, I'm all for it. This country needs to get its science graduates numbers up.
 
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