Comparing Professional School Acceptance Rates

[Narmerguy]

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This ended up taking much longer than I originally intended but whatever, it's out there now! Here's a table I compiled of acceptance rates at various professional schools (Medical, Law, Business, Vet, Engineering), using their ranks by USNews (figured I'd get the lowest acceptance rates that way). Obtaining data on dental school was way too difficult so I deleted it from the table. Vet data on acc rates were obtained by searching school websites. Many of them I have listed as "couldn't find" because they provide only the number of students enrolled and the number of applicants, but not the total # of acceptances. Oh well. Enjoy! This took hours to compile.

I'll admit I was quite surprised by how all of them are compared to medical school, particularly in the mid-tier schools! Mid tier schools are not included for Veterinary schools because there are less than 30 of them nationwide.

 

[kpcrew]

That's pretty interesting. An interesting avenue to pursue could be to look at how the different kinds of schools compare in how many schools an average applicant applies to, the class size of each school and the quality of their respective applicants. Apparently there are 6,000 applicants for vet school with around 2,700 ultimately enrolling. Medical school has nearly 44,000 people competing for over 19,000 spots (11,000 of those being reapplicants). Also, I wonder how much of a role self-selection and location play although that would probably be much more difficult to quantify.

 

[DocMan22]

I wonder how much the avg number of schools each applicant applies to plays a role.

The more schools each applicant applies too, the more applicants each school gets. The more applicants the lower the acceptance rate.

 

[Narmerguy]

I wonder how much the avg number of schools each applicant applies to plays a role.

The more schools each applicant applies too, the more applicants each school gets. The more applicants the lower the acceptance rate.

That's pretty interesting. An interesting avenue to pursue could be to look at how the different kinds of schools compare in how many schools an average applicant applies to, the class size of each school and the quality of their respective applicants. Apparently there are 6,000 applicants for vet school with around 2,700 ultimately enrolling. Medical school has nearly 44,000 people competing for over 19,000 spots (11,000 of those being reapplicants). Also, I wonder how much of a role self-selection and location play although that would probably be much more difficult to quantify.

Yeah those are both great points. Being able to state the average GPA of applicants to each of these schools (or nationally) would be a great start.

Also, for example, Vet students probably apply to fewer schools since there's only 28 in existence (some premeds apply to more than that). However, the data I've seen on these schools websites suggests that medical school students have much higher GPA's. For example, UCDavis (ranked 2nd in all vet schools) has an average GPA of 3.54 total, 3.42 Science. That's well below the majority of medical schools.

So you're very right, this data is hardly conclusive. It's not even close really, there's a much larger story to be told...haha, I'm just not doing all that in my spare time.

 

[scb44f]

Also, for example, Vet students probably apply to fewer schools since there's only 28 in existence (some premeds apply to more than that). However, the data I've seen on these schools websites suggests that medical school students have much higher GPA's. For example, UCDavis (ranked 2nd in all vet schools) has an average GPA of 3.54 total, 3.42 Science. That's well below the majority of medical schools.

I don't think vet schools are easier to get into, but admissions can be a bit more forgiving, it seems. That said, my class's average acceptance GPA was 3.75 so it will depend greatly upon the school.

 

[Nymphicus]

Thanks! Interesting information.

 

[searun]

So are Harvard law students more intelligent than Harvard med students? I suppose so. They sure make alot more money (not the be all and end all of success), and they definitely get elected President more often. Oh, wait, a Harvard med school grad has never been elected President, but this election, we get Obama and Romney, both Harvard law.

So what do we make of Big Ben??? He is hard to bring down when the game is on the line but kind of a douche.

 

[kpcrew]

romney also graduated from harvard business school

 

[fastfingers]

how is accept rate calculated anyways? is it total number of applicants (right from beginning of process) to number of offers given?

i find it hard to believe that wash u has a 10% accept rate when they prolly have like 7000 applicants and like a very small class.

 

[DocMan22]

.

 

[DocMan22]

 

[SunsFun]

Interesting. Would like to see dental schools added to this list since most people I spoke with say dental schools are harder to get into than med schools.

 

[kpcrew]

Interesting. Would like to see dental schools added to this list since most people I spoke with say dental schools are harder to get into than med schools.

on what grounds did they determine this?
i'm under the impression that the average gpa for accepted medical school applicants is 3.6 while it's 3.5 for dental

 

[aSagacious]

on what grounds did they determine this?
i'm under the impression that the average gpa for accepted medical school applicants is 3.6 while it's 3.5 for dental

That agrees with the ADEA summary data:
http://www.adea.org/publications/tde/Documents/Grade Point Averages of Dental School Enrollees.pdf
http://www.adea.org/publications/tde/Documents/Grade Point Averages of Dental School Applicants.pdf
http://www.adea.org/publications/td... Applicants and Enrollees by Range of GPA.pdf

 

[Ragekage]

on what grounds did they determine this?
i'm under the impression that the average gpa for accepted medical school applicants is 3.6 while it's 3.5 for dental

I think GPA's tend to be slightly higher for entrance to med school. From the 2011 ADEA Official Guide to dental school:

12,001 Applicants and 4955 Enrollees for Fall 2010.
41.28% Matriculation Rate
Ave Enrolled Overall GPA: 3.53
Ave Enrolled Science GPA: 3.47


This edition is not the most current anymore but it should give you an idea for comparison.

 

[gettheleadout]

on what grounds did they determine this?
i'm under the impression that the average gpa for accepted medical school applicants is 3.6 while it's 3.5 for dental

People often try to equate a lower number of schools to an increased level of competitiveness, despite lower numbers of applicants.

 

[SunsFun]

on what grounds did they determine this?
i'm under the impression that the average gpa for accepted medical school applicants is 3.6 while it's 3.5 for dental

It was mostly because the acceptance rate to dental schools is around 42% overall while it is about 44% to MD programs. There are basically more people competing for a seat. Although looking at the data I think there is also more people competing per seat for DO programs on average than MD programs. Which kind of leads me to believe that for an average person dental school can be easier to get into even with greater competition just because average numbers of people applying are lower even though there are more people applying overall.

 

[kpcrew]

by that argument, mcdonalds is harder to get into than medical school and dental school since they have about a 6% acceptance rate. 62,000 people hired this year from over a million applications.

 

[jesse120]

by that argument, mcdonalds is harder to get into than medical school and dental school since they have about a 6% acceptance rate. 62,000 people hired this year from over a million applications.

I did consider trying to get into McDonalds, but figured med school would be the safer bet in gaining admission. If I didn't get in there, I would have settled for being homeless, which has a 100% acceptance rate. 👍

 

[SunsFun]

by that argument, mcdonalds is harder to get into than medical school and dental school since they have about a 6% acceptance rate. 62,000 people hired this year from over a million applications.

I agree. It is just what many of my friends in dental school keep saying. Although all of these statistics comparing acceptance rates posted in the OP are moot following your logic. I mean, you have to be fairly well-accomplished (real-world accomplishments not some glorified ECs) to stand any chance at Harvard Business School, having top grades and scores on GMAT will get you nowhere.

 

[Narmerguy]

People often try to equate a lower number of schools to an increased level of competitiveness, despite lower numbers of applicants.

Right, and the quality of applicants matters as well. I think for us to get a better picture of how to interpret the data in the OP, we'd need average GPA of matriculants/applicants and average number of schools to which each applicant applies. This is, of course, difficult data to accumulate 🙁