Applicant totals

[juddson]

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Is there data to suggest that the number of applicants was up for the 2003 matriculating year? I read over and over again on the waitlist threads that the classes are "holding" better than ussual this year, and that many classes are overbooked.

Is this just jitters from being too close to the process, or is this year "really" worse than the previous?

Also, is there any reason to suggest that this year's applicant pool (2004 matriculating) is going to be more robust than previous years? If so, why do you suppose?

Just trawling for discouraging information, I'm sure.

Judd

 

[wadoc]

Juddson,

Look for info on the aamc.org site. They produced an article about class sizes last winter. I believe the fall 2002 entering pool was a six or seven year low, and that the fall 2003 entering pool was something like 6 or 8% larger.

My guess? Tech/dot-com's started sucking, and it takes a few years to get all your prereq's and your MCAT taken before you apply.

Still, it's better to be applying this year than in a couple years since the pool will probably just increase.

wadoc

 

[mpp]

AAMC will release the data for the 2003 entering class sometime in late October or early November. Anecdotally this year's wait lists are holding much stronger and some schools have unexpectadly 'overbooked'. I assume we will see a significant rise in applicants for 2003 (perhaps close to 10%) after many years of decline. What happens in 2004 is still anybody's guess but if medical school applications follow the trend of law school and graduate school application trends they will increase as well.

 

[phenolphthalein]

I think it's a fair assumption that the applicant pool will be significantly larger for this and the next few admissions cycles. I'm sure there are others in my position: laid off in January from a software company, promptly took the MCAT in April, and added myself to the applicant pool.

 

[Persistence101]

Originally posted by phenolphthalein
I think it's a fair assumption that the applicant pool will be significantly larger for this and the next few admissions cycles. I'm sure there are others in my position: laid off in January from a software company, promptly took the MCAT in April, and added myself to the applicant pool.

How have you shown dedication to the medical field?

 

[SonGoku]

You can check out the following link if you want to see the exact #s in years past:

www.aamc.org/data/facts/famg62002a.htm

 

[juddson]

Ah,

I see that according to the numbers on AAMC.org, the applicanty pool fell by 3.5% from the 2001 to 2002 season. I guess the 2003 applicant pool data is not in yet.

Good lord there were a lot of applicants in the mid 90's.

I like the analysis above which suggests that people are not getting into as many schools, which tends to hold the classes better. As each school gets better at offering spaces to only those people who they think will likely come, the waitlists will be used less and less.

It's funny, really. The whole process is paradoxical. With mediocre numbers (3.6 and 30's), the top 25 schools are pretty much off limits. But, you think, never fear there are 100 other schools that accept similar numbers. Therein lies the problem, though. Only 3-5 of those other 100 schools are accessable to you because you are not a state resident of more than one state. So, if you don't have exceptional numbers (which would get you in anywhere--your state or otherwise) your school choice goes from 125 to 5 overnight.

Judd