CA applicants: How much did you spend during the process?

[Haybrant]

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Hi,
I am a california resident that applied to ~30 schools. Im curious how much money others in a similar position ended up spending on the whole process? I was crunching the numbers in my head while preparing a PCR in lab and realized that this is going to be very expensive even if I only get a few interviews. Just curious; thanks!

 

[UCLAstudent]

Hi,
I am a california resident that applied to ~30 schools. Im curious how much money others in a similar position ended up spending on the whole process? I was crunching the numbers in my head while preparing a PCR in lab and realized that this is going to be very expensive even if I only get a few interviews. Just curious; thanks!

I have easily spent $3,000 so far, and I still have like 8 secondaries left (I applied to 30 schools). That money includes AMCAS, secondaries, and sending out letters of reference. I figure after interviews I will have spent $5,000. 😱

 

[Medikit]

It is approaching $2000 atm

 

[Pinkertinkle]

I expect 5k to 10k for my 25 schools. Now where's my dad's credit card.

 

[slackerjock]

$150 MCAT (195? i forget)
$150 AMCAS
$30 Early decision 1 school
$60 Secondary
0.37 Stamp
=====
$390.37

 

[kiwie07]

i'm applying to 27 schools:

$970 or something for amcas
so far ~ $1500 on 20 secondaries.
hopefully it'll cost < $5000. 😱

 

[wxl31]

spent ~1000 on AMCAS (26 schools)
spent ~700 so far on secondaries (done with 10)
spent ~250 on my plane tic to Vandy
spent ~50 on letter service
spent ~50 requesting transcript
i'm sure i spent at least 50d on misc. items like envelopes, faxes, postage

total so far: 2100

my goodness this is a depressing thread

 

[Medikit]

$150 MCAT (195? i forget)
$150 AMCAS
$30 Early decision 1 school
$60 Secondary
0.37 Stamp
=====
$390.37

I hope you get rejected 😡


... not really

 

[Pixye1]

when i went thru the process i spent about 5000 including the MCAT airfare etc. I applied to 24 schools and got 6 interviews....after the flying and all the expenses....i am going to the school that is rollerblading distance from my home!

 

[uclabruin2003]

ok someone said 10k..thats just crazy. im figure on spending less than 5k.....sigh. one day i'll add it all up....hopefully i'll be drunk then.

 

[wends]

spent ~1000 on AMCAS (26 schools)
spent ~700 so far on secondaries (done with 10)
spent ~250 on my plane tic to Vandy
spent ~50 on letter service
spent ~50 requesting transcript
i'm sure i spent at least 50d on misc. items like envelopes, faxes, postage

total so far: 2100


we need to add

Acceptance to Medical School: Priceless

 

[45408]

dear Lord you guys drop the cash

This is why I'm applying to probably all seven schools that are less than two hours away from me.

 

[jlee9531]

applied to 43 schools.

AMCAS, Secondaries, Sending LORs and the secondaries, interview plane flights, miscellaneous costs, set me back at least 5000 dollars. I am still paying off my debts as we speak. But hey, it was a one time shot for me. I needed to make sure I got in and i did. 5000 is nothing compared to the 120K im gonna be set back for med school, so the cost was worth it.

got invited to 5 interviews.
declined one to save $$.
1 WL
3 acceptances, with one being in CA. So yes it was definitely worth it.

 

[i77ac]

applied to 43 schools.

AMCAS, Secondaries, Sending LORs and the secondaries, interview plane flights, miscellaneous costs, set me back at least 5000 dollars. I am still paying off my debts as we speak. But hey, it was a one time shot for me. I needed to make sure I got in and i did. 5000 is nothing compared to the 120K im gonna be set back for med school, so the cost was worth it.

got invited to 5 interviews.
declined one to save $$.
1 WL
3 acceptances, with one being in CA. So yes it was definitely worth it.

43 schools???? holy... macro

i thought my 22 was a lot.

 

[i77ac]

jlee, you must have had some fun with the secondaries...

 

[jlee9531]

jlee, you must have had some fun with the secondaries...

oh yeah haha. i remember going about a month straight with very little sleep. a couple hours a day. but then again, i was working full time at the time and volunteering so the only time i had to work on them was during the nights and wee into the morning.

 

[i77ac]

but still... my goodness. i don't think i will want to even receive that many secondaries.

i'm also working about 50 hours a week at the moment. driving me nuts with these essays (especially the USC one). oh well, i got about 5 more to go.

 

[jlee9531]

damn just 5 more to go? thats pretty damn good. you sound on top of things and im sure good things will occur as a result.

 

[LoneCoyote]

Wow, I got off cheap cuz I only applied to 9 schools, and only returned 7 secondaries. I had 5 interviews and only ended up going to the 3 in-state ones. It was a bit risky, but I got my UC acceptance so no complaints here. I highly recommend the Southwest Rapid Rewards Visa. Pay all of your AMCAS and secondary fees, travel expenses, etc., and you'll get the points and free tickets quickly. And definitely stay with student hosts if you can... I found it very helpful to get a sense for the school and it too saves money. Good luck with this annoying and expensive process.

 

[uclacrewdude]

Wow, I got off cheap cuz I only applied to 9 schools, and only returned 7 secondaries. I had 5 interviews and only ended up going to the 3 in-state ones. It was a bit risky, but I got my UC acceptance so no complaints here. I highly recommend the Southwest Rapid Rewards Visa. Pay all of your AMCAS and secondary fees, travel expenses, etc., and you'll get the points and free tickets quickly. And definitely stay with student hosts if you can... I found it very helpful to get a sense for the school and it too saves money. Good luck with this annoying and expensive process.

i wasnt so lucky (or rather, was a whole hell of a lot more dumber) and had only one out of seven interviews in the state. as such i forked over about $10K for the whole process, including amcas (35 schools), apps (26 secs), and interviews (7). to be on the safe side, allot at least $750 for each interview if you need to fly (i was so busy i couldnt take the time to fly southwest).

 

[Code Brown]

oh yeah haha. i remember going about a month straight with very little sleep. a couple hours a day. but then again, i was working full time at the time and volunteering so the only time i had to work on them was during the nights and wee into the morning.

No kidding. I've already sent back 31 secondaries.

AMCAS $1330
Secondaries $2455 (so far - expect another $600 or so)
Misc postage ~$120

Not to mention the Kaplan prep and the MCAT fee.

 

[Shaz]

I have easily spent $3,000 so far, and I still have like 8 secondaries left (I applied to 30 schools). That money includes AMCAS, secondaries, and sending out letters of reference. I figure after interviews I will have spent $5,000. 😱

I feel your pain! I could have bought a 1989 Toyota Celica GT, power windows and locks, with the money spent on secondaries.

 

[Scandal]

So far I've spent $700 on AMCAS (19 schools), $800 on secondary fees for ten schools, and $380 for 2 MCATs. That's $1800. And I still have more secondaries and hopefully interviews.

 

[hamhamfan]

Wow, I got off cheap cuz I only applied to 9 schools, and only returned 7 secondaries. I had 5 interviews and only ended up going to the 3 in-state ones. It was a bit risky, but I got my UC acceptance so no complaints here. I highly recommend the Southwest Rapid Rewards Visa. Pay all of your AMCAS and secondary fees, travel expenses, etc., and you'll get the points and free tickets quickly. And definitely stay with student hosts if you can... I found it very helpful to get a sense for the school and it too saves money. Good luck with this annoying and expensive process.

It seems like it worked out quite well for you. I'm trying to do the same thing because I have no intention of leaving home.

question: is it worth it to drive around? Couldn't you save money and be more environmentally-friendly by driving/taking the bus around instead?

 

[Haybrant]

sorry to have started this depressing thread...on second thought i guess i dont really want to know the answer to my question....

 

[LoneCoyote]

It seems like it worked out quite well for you. I'm trying to do the same thing because I have no intention of leaving home.

question: is it worth it to drive around? Couldn't you save money and be more environmentally-friendly by driving/taking the bus around instead?

It did work out well for me and I consider myself very lucky that it did. I too did not want to leave home and had some back-up plans in case it did not work out. As for driving, I guess it would depend how far away you were driving and how much gas costs. They keep saying the gas prices will hit the highest they have been in September. I know I drive a lot, and I spend all too much money on gas even for my little compact car. So if you can find a cheap fare on Southwest or JetBlue for like $39 each way, it might actually cost more to drive. I have never done the whole Greyhound thing so I have no idea how much that costs. I pretty much drove to my interviews in NorCal and flew to SoCal. This was also because I was working full-time and could not take the time off to make longer drives.