applying to MANY schools?? pro/con?

[FitnessModelMD]

I am just wondering something....

if I wanted to increase my chance of acceptance (regardless of my top choice etc. IE: just wanted to get into a med.school) wouldnt it be advantageous to apply to like 10-15+ schools?

is there a drawback to doing this other than alot of $ if u get lots of secondaries/interviews etc.?

do schools have access to how many med.schools you sent ur app to? does AAMC limit the number to which u can send ur app. to?

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[MD-2007-Gal]

Applying to 10-15 schools is pretty much average. Most people I know initially applied to ~15, even if they wound up withdrawing some applications. In any case, these are the basic pros and cons of applying to many schools.
Pros:
More chances to get in
You see more schools, so you're able to make more comparisons between schools
Interviewing is fun, and you meet great people

Cons:
$$$$$$$$$$$ <-- between application fees and interview expenses, things really add up
It takes time to write all of those secondaries (although you can use the same essay for multiple applications a lot of the time)
Interviewing takes a lot of time and energy, especially if you are applying to schools that will require you to travel far to get there

 

[What the pho]

1. In medicine it is always better to error on the safe side. Be safe and apply to wide range and number of schools. You don't want to look back and have no acceptances saying to yourself, I should've applied to more and easier schools.

2. No real draw back except cheese. A few hundred dollars is not going to kill you, but having to reapply the next year will mess w/your mind and well being.

3. No they don't know how many you've sent applications to, and there is no limit. The schools will know after may 15 which schools you're hold acceptances at.

 

[e-spin]

HI...I applied to 21...received 19 secondaries, and returned 17 of them. YEAH it cost A LOT of $$$ but with my stats I knew I needed to put myself out there. 3.4UG (3.2BCMP), 4.0grad, 27O (or was it P, cant remember now!) MCAT.
was is worth it?? I am WLed at all 5 schools I interviewed at so ask me again in June 😛 !!
My advice is apply wisely. If I wouldve been more careful with my school choices, out of the 21 that I applied to, I probably shouldve only applied to 15 of them...
If you have stellar scores you can get away with applying to fewer but dont apply to ONLY the top 10 or something like that.
So, in short the only (very big) con is that you will be shelling out some dough and writing, writing, writing for your secondaries!!!
OH, and some guide books like the Princeton Review Guide to Med Schools which I used tells you how much the secondaries for each school is...
Good luck to ya!!

 

[DW]

well, i'd say its "normal" to apply to 10-15 schools. AAMC statistics show students applied ob average to 11 schools I believe.

When picking how many schools you apply to, this is slightly situtational. Depends on your stats/competitiveness as an applicant, if you're applying mstp, and state residency is a huge factor. If you're in a med school friendly state like Texas, you can probably skimp a little. If you're insanely competitive california, you might want to think about applying to ~20 schools.

To this I say, "better safe than sorry". If you research I'm sure you can find a solid ~15 schools, 10 schools at absolute bare minimum, that you would be ok with going to across all tiers. The money can pile up applying, trust me I have been living like a true peasant this year, but I think its well worth it to apply to a healthy number of schools, cause there are no guarantees in this process.

 

[lola]

as others above have said, the only real cons are cost and time. these are considerable cons, though. not only are we talking about cost & time for primary/secondaries, there is also the cost & time for interviews. if you apply to 30 schools and get 15 interviews, do you really want to fly across the country perhaps 15 different times if need be? maybe you do. because of the way admissions works (SLOW), you may not get in early (or may not get in early to the schools you want to go to) and you will have to keep going to interviews. anyway, that's just a minor point i guess. and i guess it is better to go to 15 and get in somewhere, than go to 5 and get in nowhere, but it's a considerable time/money investment to go on these interviews.

in my opinion, there is never a need to apply to more than 25 schools if you choose wisely. had i known my mcat score before applying, i would have limited it to 20 max. where and how many schools you apply to also has a LOT to do with your state of residence. if you live in texas, you will not have to apply to 20 schools. on the other hand, if you live in california (or a state without a med school or only one med school that's hard to get into), you may have to apply to 15-20 schools. as dw talked about, your competitiveness plays a role as well. i wish i'd applied to more schools at which i was competitive. it will take a bit of research, talking to premed advisors, etc... to find out how to determine that if you don't already now.

choose wisely is the best advice i can give. find out about schools before you apply to them. i unfortunately did not do that as much as i should have probably.

 

[FitnessModelMD]

thanks for the great/informative responses! well appreciated.

ya i couldnt really think of any cons other than the money thing..thanks for confirming! 🙂

 

[oldtown]

like everyone said, money is the only downside. i'm on the west coast, and i kind of got sick of travelling too, but at least i got to see different schools to have a good frame of reference. i applied to 22 schools, got interview invites at 10, went on 8 interviews, with 3 acceptances and 5 wait lists, some which i have withdrawn from already. It is important to apply within your range, as far as places you have a good chance to get in. Check out the MSAR and other Princeton review books for GPA, MCAT, and out of state vs. instate statistics, and be realistic. if a school interviews 30 and accepts 4 out of state applicants out of 2,000, probably a good idea to stay away. a cutoff i used was i only applied to out of state schools if they interviewed at least 10% of out of state applicants. apply mostly to schools with average scores/grades close to yours, with a few "reach" schools, and a few "safety"schools, if there is such a thing. finally, if you have a premed advisor, ask them which schools students from your undergrad typically get into. could be that your advisor has an in with a dean of admissions, or certain med schools have been pretty satisfied with people coming from your undergrad, and want to take more.

 

[sunflower79]

At my undergrad college, the average # of schools per applicant was around 25. I would recommend NO MORE THAN 30. It really depends on your qualifications. If you're a strong applicant, 20 should be enough. If you're not as strong, 25-30 tops. The reason is 1) $$$ and 2) time spent filling out secondaries. They are the most tedious and mind-numbing thing you can imagine. Of course, you can apply to the ones that don't require any secondary essays.

The trick is to spread your choices wisely. Apply to some "dream" schools, some among the top 50, other "safetys".

Good luck!

 

[memoryless]

Fitness: I haven't gone through the application process yet, so take my advice with a grain of salt. That said, I think it's wisest to apply to as many schools as you can afford and have time for. As an undergrad I only applied to 6.. 3 safeties, 3 dreams. I seriously regretted that decision immediately after getting my acceptances and rejections, and vowed to not make the same mistake this time around.

IMO, it's much better to shell out a lot of money and spend a lot of time than to be stuck at the end of the process with either a) no acceptances, b) only one acceptance to a school you discovered you're not that happy with, or c) wondering which schools you would've been able to get in to, but simply didn't apply to (regardless of how many acceptances you received).

 

[Adcadet]

some schools limit the number of times you can apply. So if you're borderline and have applied once before, you may want to keep a few schools as reserve just in case you have to reapply.