Applying to 50 schools? Crazy.....?

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StealYourCarbon

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If you had the money to apply to 50+ schools, would you do it considering you're GPA at time of applying would be in the 3.3-3.5 range and MCAT 30? Perhaps you're not the most competitive applicant out there.... I know it's a good idea to apply to more schools, and with that comes more secondaries, and more cost of interviewing, but even it if cost more... it would make sense to apply to as many as you can afford, right?

I mean, even with 50 applications, less secondaries given, and even fewer interviews requested.....I feel like the numbers are getting smaller and it seems reasonable to apply to however many you have afford, no?

Can this hurt you in the application process? Thanks in advance for the opinions.
 
Talk to Funkydrmonkey..he had a 3.8+ and 35 and applied to nearly 70.
 
If you want to write all those secondary essays and have the money, go for it. I just think that I'd get burnt out from writing way early in the secondary stage.
 
If you want to write all those secondary essays and have the money, go for it. I just think that I'd get burnt out from writing way early in the secondary stage.

👍👍👍 I got burnt out doing just 14, and decided not to apply to Duke after seeing their secondary (I'm a UNC fan anyway, so it's ok 😎). Don't underestimate how much time it will take to fill them out. It took me about a month to do mine - since I had multiple activities and jobs this past summer.

Also be prepared to defend yourself in interviews, schools can see the other schools you applied to as its listed in your primary. Good luck!
 
Also be prepared to defend yourself in interviews, schools can see the other schools you applied to as its listed in your primary. Good luck!

Actually, They Cant.

OP, if you have money and will to do all those sec's go for it. It really is your call, if you want to be on the safe side apply as broadly as possible. I would also suggest you to do some research on the schools you plan to apply to, it would help you to trim your list. Best of Luck !
 
If you've got the time and money, do whatever it takes to get in. I applied to 30, got 15 secondaries, 3 interviews, 2 acceptances. I wasn't the strongest applicant, I'm not at the best school, I'm not the best in my school, but when my future patient comes to see me he'll call me Dr. That's the goal right? Do what you need, work as hard as you can, don't give up.
 
If you had the money to apply to 50+ schools, would you do it considering you're GPA at time of applying would be in the 3.3-3.5 range and MCAT 30? Perhaps you're not the most competitive applicant out there.... I know it's a good idea to apply to more schools, and with that comes more secondaries, and more cost of interviewing, but even it if cost more... it would make sense to apply to as many as you can afford, right?

I mean, even with 50 applications, less secondaries given, and even fewer interviews requested.....I feel like the numbers are getting smaller and it seems reasonable to apply to however many you have afford, no?

Can this hurt you in the application process? Thanks in advance for the opinions.

As a rule, quantity does not make up for quality, and if you're not good enough for 1/30, you're not good enough for 1/50. This is not a truly random process. While each school is looking for a different version of the same thing, numbers are numbers.
On the other hand, it can't "hurt" you really to apply to that many schools, as long as you'll give each the same amount of care and attention (which would basically require you to have nothing else to do, ever), all the while sending the rolling schools' apps back rather quickly. The problem is that you don't realize how draining and annoying those things are until there are 20 of them in your mailbox, each of which is asking a different version of the same question so you either have to write separate essays or edit a bunch of different ones to make them fit. Even the ones that ask the same question will ask for a different number of words. And this isn't counting for missing passwords, buggy application websites, snail mail vs email vs online systems, and the endless checking up on whether you're complete or not, who wants a picture and what size and how do they want it sent and would they rather have a check or a credit card and why wouldn't one school have received your LORs if everyone else has. It's annoying as hell, and requires a LOT of organization. I applied to 27 and those things took over my life.

Apply intelligently, not just broadly.

👍👍👍 I got burnt out doing just 14, and decided not to apply to Duke after seeing their secondary (I'm a UNC fan anyway, so it's ok 😎). Don't underestimate how much time it will take to fill them out. It took me about a month to do mine - since I had multiple activities and jobs this past summer.

Also be prepared to defend yourself in interviews, schools can see the other schools you applied to as its listed in your primary. Good luck!

This is actually a common misconception. You can see that page with all the schools you applied to- med schools cannot.
 
Ah I stand corrected. I assumed they got to see the same AMCAS printout that we did. Sorry about that 😀

EDIT: I can't imagine trying to keep track of about 50 passwords and checking all of those online status updates. That would have driven me absolutely batty.
 
Thanks for the help, everyone! When the time comes, I will definitely be selective as to where to apply, and will apply smart. Quality over quantity for sure. I just figured it could only help to be seen by more schools.

If one is verified/complete with AMCAS by mid-July, when can you expect to no longer receive secondaries? I mean, do some schools request them even into Nov/Dec. Is there a general time where it's sort of the end for secondaries to be sent out? I was hoping to complete many of them in the summer/early fall. My school doesn't start the fall quarter until the first week of October, and the rest, I will try my best to juggle. I'm sure that sounds very naive, and I have absolutely no idea what to expect with all the work ahead of me, but I figure for me, it's better to have the secondaries to refuse to finish (due to exhaustion), rather than too few.
 
I would do it. I knew going into this process that I was not the most amazingly competitive applicant in the world, and that I was going to have to apply fairly broadly. I applied to 20 allopathic schools and have 1 acceptance so far. I keep thinking that if I had completed 19/20 secondaries, I might not have gotten in at all. To the extent that you can do a good job on your applications, I think it is wise for less competitive applicants to apply to as many schools as they can.
 
Assuming you got interviews at just half of the 50 schools, I don't think there would be time to go on all of them. Applying to more than 20ish schools, IMO, is ridonculous.
 
If you are a mediocre applicant, there aren't 50 schools at which you will be competitive. If you are competitive at 50 schools, your chances are good enough that you don't need to apply so broadly. Either way, it only makes sense to apply to the 20ish schools at which you have the best chances and the most interest.
 
I would probably apply to a select 10 schools. If you don't get into one of those ten. Then, reapply the following year to more schools and work on your application on your year off.
 
If you are a mediocre applicant, there aren't 50 schools at which you will be competitive. If you are competitive at 50 schools, your chances are good enough that you don't need to apply so broadly. Either way, it only makes sense to apply to the 20ish schools at which you have the best chances and the most interest.
Unless you have no idea which schools you like the most
 
There is no freakin way I would fill out that many apps and dish out that much dinero lol. I'd narrow it down a little (by a little I mean at least half lol)
 
Talk to Funkydrmonkey..he had a 3.8+ and 35 and applied to nearly 70.
I ended up doing 49 secondaries... Hindsight bias, I should have applied to less, but try explaining that to my parents (who funded my app process)
If you want to write all those secondary essays and have the money, go for it. I just think that I'd get burnt out from writing way early in the secondary stage.
Yeah, I hate talking about myself now... And it gets old fast... I turned in a few secondaries lateish, which is why I attribute not getting any love from those schools...
👍

I'm sure most of us would have applied to a million schools if we had the money and time. Go for it.
If I had more time, I would have liked to do the secondaries for the other ones also, but once you start getting interviews, the motivation to do secondaries flies out of the window.
Ah I stand corrected. I assumed they got to see the same AMCAS printout that we did. Sorry about that 😀

EDIT: I can't imagine trying to keep track of about 50 passwords and checking all of those online status updates. That would have driven me absolutely batty.
That is why gmail has a search function. Plus, most of the passwords, I changed to my regularly used passwords to keep myself from going mad... a few of the other ones, I memorized...
Assuming you got interviews at just half of the 50 schools, I don't think there would be time to go on all of them. Applying to more than 20ish schools, IMO, is ridonculous.
Yah, I got 24/49 interviews. I went to 16, and wish I actually had the time and money to go to all the schools... Some I really wanted to visit like UConn, and others I heard mixed reviews about Case/CCLCM (which I slightly regret not going to). But since my parents were funding it, once I got an acceptance, I was able to trim down the interviews I went to, and once I got into one of my top choices, I let go of most of the other interviews that were left.
Unless you have no idea which schools you like the most
True. One of the schools I was super interested in pre-cycle, when I interviewed, I did not like at all, and subsequently withdrew from the waitlist.
I applied to 43 schools, and out of those, the only school I got accepted to was a school I would normally never apply to unless I applied to so many schools. GPA = 3.4 here, definitely worth it to apply to 43 schools than have to apply to 15 schools twice.

Also agree with a previous poster's comment that if you have to apply to 50 schools, you won't be competitive at half. (like me, I applied to way too many reaches). However, its better to try than to not try at all. the constant influx of rejection letters will only motivate me further

Yeah, most of my acceptances were at schools that I initially cut, but later on added again, after my father sternly asked me to apply to them... 😳
 
I want to add to the "go for it you have the time and money," and say only apply to so many schools if you are actually willing to go to all of them. It doesn't make any sense to spend the time and money to apply (and possibly interview) at a school that you really wouldn't go to.

My personal suggestion would be to apply to fewer schools, and apply only to schools that you are really interested in. Then, show that on your secondaries--take your time writing the answers to the questions. Research the curriculum at the school, find out some details, etc.

And then use some of that extra free time you have to start some new volunteer opportunities, new research, etc. in case you aren't admitted this year--that way you have a stronger application for next year.
 
Yah, I got 24/49 interviews. I went to 16, and wish I actually had the time and money to go to all the schools... Some I really wanted to visit like UConn, and others I heard mixed reviews about Case/CCLCM (which I slightly regret not going to). But since my parents were funding it, once I got an acceptance, I was able to trim down the interviews I went to, and once I got into one of my top choices, I let go of most of the other interviews that were left.
😳

Wow--You must be a pro interviewer after 16!!! (Congrats by the way, on being offered so many interviews)
 
Wow--You must be a pro interviewer after 16!!! (Congrats by the way, on being offered so many interviews)

I actually screwed up on #15, resulting in a WL because I had about a two month break between these interviews, but #16 which was two days later was kick@$$😀

Thanks!
 
I agree with the others who say that you should apply to as many schools as you can based on time/money.

I had mediocre stats like you, applied to 50 schools, got 1 interview and 0 acceptances. The only school I interviewed at is one that I was told to remove.

It's true that if you're applying to 50 schools, many of them will be reach schools. I'd say take a few out based on where you'd love to go, but ultimately the decision is yours.

Working on 50 secondaries isn't TOO hard as long as you don't have many other commitments and you're diligent.

Best of luck, OP! Better to pay a lot up front to get your foot in the door.
 
crazy? yes
i was tired of writing by the 20th secondary
the last 10 (i did 30 total) took forever to submit, and weren't submitted until sept.
 
50 schools? God, no. On top of what another poster said about not being competitive at 50 schools, there's state residency to consider as well. Of the 126 US med schools listed in the 2010 MSAR, 47 are private and 79 are public. Many of those public schools accept no or very few OOS applicants, so you'd be wasting your money applying to them. Therefore, you'd have trouble putting together 50 viable apps unless you applied to almost every private school in the country (many of which are super-reaches for someone with your stats).

I'm a nontrad with a non-spectacular uGPA (though higher than the numbers you named) and an unbalanced MCAT score. I ended up applying to 27 schools (a painful experience), but it was probably about the right number. I got 8 interviews (one of which I haven't had yet), resulting in 1 acceptance and 5 waitlists so far.
 
I also applied to around 45 schools including D.O programs. I have a 3.45 GPA (3.21 sci), and 34T MCAT.

Once you eliminate schools based on those that don't really take out of state applicants, and then eliminate schools at which you simply aren't competitive based on your stats...you shouldn't have a list really longer than mine. There are some changes I would make to my list in retrospect, but it definitely wouldn't be to make the list longer.
************************************

When I cut out schools based on OOS status, I removed all schools for which as an OOS applicant the interview rate was lower than the most selective school was for In-State applicants (according to MSAR, I think that's going to be 7.1% at Stanford).

When I cut out schools based on GPA, I removed them if I was more than ~2 standard deviations below their mean overall GPA or their sciGPA, unless their was some extenuating circumstance (i.e. I worked for the school, had an LOR from a prof there, parents/boss/LOR-writers = alumni, etc.). ~2 standard deviations below the mean is going to be approximately where the 10%tile bars end. I would have made the same adjustment for MCAT if it were applicable to my score.

Logically, you aren't going to be in the bottom 10%tile of applicants unless you are a URM, have some extenuating cirucmstance that ties you to the school, or are some terribly unique non-trad applicant...so why detract from your other applications by diluting your efforts with ones that are so unlikely to pan out?
 
I agree with others that have said you cant even find 50 schools that you should apply to that you would have a chance at. Im a non-trad with only average GPA (3.55) and I have FAP whihc makes my applications free. So I literally went through the MSAR and made a list of just about every school that accepted OOS students at a decent rate and state schools, and I came up with about 42 schools. I then further trimmer it down to about 38 schools taking out some that were reaches or ones whos secondaries I would never fill out or places i refuse to live (such as tulane). Honestly you would be hard pressed to find more then 40 schools where an OOS average or less then average applicant would be competitive at. Id say applying to anymore then 35 schools is a waste of time as you are then starting to apply to schools like SUNY downstate or stony brook which only take a limited amount of OOS or applying to schools like the ivys or columbia where you probably have no chance at.
 
they can see where u applied after they accept you, so no biggie..

also.. apply to like 30 schools max... 50 is too much, even if u have nothing else to do... the more of them u do, the lesser the quality of each secondary essay.
 
I agree with others that have said you cant even find 50 schools that you should apply to that you would have a chance at. Im a non-trad with only average GPA (3.55) and I have FAP whihc makes my applications free. So I literally went through the MSAR and made a list of just about every school that accepted OOS students at a decent rate and state schools, and I came up with about 42 schools. I then further trimmer it down to about 38 schools taking out some that were reaches or ones whos secondaries I would never fill out or places i refuse to live (such as tulane). Honestly you would be hard pressed to find more then 40 schools where an OOS average or less then average applicant would be competitive at. Id say applying to anymore then 35 schools is a waste of time as you are then starting to apply to schools like SUNY downstate or stony brook which only take a limited amount of OOS or applying to schools like the ivys or columbia where you probably have no chance at.

Its all good advice, but I would like to say that Elijah05 and OP dont undersell yourself. Dont ignore the reach schools because you maybe pleasantly surprised at this whole admission process.:luck:
 
the more of them u do, the lesser the quality of each secondary essay.

Not really... I ended up reusing about 60-75% of my secondary essays for other essays, since the prompts were so similar... The reason I did not do all of my secondaries was because I did not want to have to write more essays on top of the ones I had already written...
 
Its all good advice, but I would like to say that Elijah05 and OP dont undersell yourself. Dont ignore the reach schools because you maybe pleasantly surprised at this whole admission process.:luck:

Oh I know, I mean im applying to all the UC schools, columbia, and dartmouth, I did a few reach schools just becuase of the unknown factor. I think if applying to 30 schools 5-8 reach schools should be on there. Who knows which comittee may see something they love in this random process🙂
 
That many schools is crazy. Between doing all the work and all the money, I can't see how applying to 20 or 25 is any worse than applying to 50. As someone said previously, you're not going to be competitive at 25% of U.S. med schools. I would choose schools that you would actually attend and actually have a chance at getting into.

To each his own, ultimately. But I know that I definitely wouldn't want to apply to 50 schools. I don't even want to apply to 20.
 
Oh I know, I mean im applying to all the UC schools, columbia, and dartmouth, I did a few reach schools just becuase of the unknown factor. I think if applying to 30 schools 5-8 reach schools should be on there. Who knows which comittee may see something they love in this random process🙂

Exactly !! This process is just way too random. Just follow your heart and enjoy the ride.👍
 
i completed around 60 secondaries, received around 20 interviews, and got a few acceptances. half of those acceptances were at schools i would not have applied to had i been "selective" with regard to stats (i'm non-urm, by the way). my numbers were below the averages at all but one of the schools that accepted me. looking at my results, had i been "strategic" with 20 or so schools...I would have ended up with less than half that many interviews. i got no love from my state schools, either. it might also be worthwhile to note that my first acceptance came from another state's state school which historically accepts just a few non-residents (sounded like a good program, so i figured "why not?"). who woulda thunk?

the whole "be strategic and if it doesn't work out improve and reapply next year" is the stupidest advice i've ever heard. how many times do you want to go through this process? maximize your chances and apply to as many schools as you can.

a previous poster said if you aren't good enough for 1/30 then you won't be good enough for 1/50. actually, there is no way to know if that is true or not unless you try. you might have something one school might want.

say you ARE good enough for 1/30, then if my math is correct that might mean 2/60!

i maximized my chances, and I was VERY surprised with the outcome. don't leave any stones unturned.
 
I think if applying to 30 schools 5-8 reach schools should be on there.

No disrespect intended, but I think that's a high number of reaches. Personally, I'd keep it to more like 3 or 4. (That's no attempt to be scientific, just a gut-lev el judgment.)

I totally agree that everyone should throw in a couple of reach schools, because applicants can get lucky sometimes. But let's face it: the odds are overwhelmingly against you at such schools, so you should look at those apps as "extras," on top of the ones you need to gi ve yourself a reasonable shot at getting in someplace. Hav ing 8 reaches out of 30 apps would be almost 30% of your total, which is way too high. You'd be throwing a lot of time, energy and money away on apps which have a very low chance of success.
 
they can see where u applied after they accept you, so no biggie..

also.. apply to like 30 schools max... 50 is too much, even if u have nothing else to do... the more of them u do, the lesser the quality of each secondary essay.

Both of these are untrue - this person has not gone through the process. Schools can see where else you got in after they accept you. I don't think they ever see your full AMCAS list.

As to the second point, I would agree with funkydrmonkey - my later secondaries were definitely better than the early ones, but perhaps the quality would have started to tank after a ton (I did less than 20).

As others have said, I don't think it's worth your time to apply to more than 30. If you are realistic with yourself, that should be plenty. If you can't whittle down the "dream" schools, then sure, apply to every private school in the nation, but it will be very time consuming and expensive.

Also, keep in mind that while school websites say you have to submit by the secondary some date in late fall, the actual secondaries often have to be submitted within two to four weeks of receipt - so they can pile up quickly.
 
well then..33 secondaries...27 interview invites...and only received one acceptance that I wouldnt have applied to had I done 12....The other acceptances I would have applied to even if I did 12.
 
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