Cost of Applying for Residency

[Syranope2]

I tried to search on this and didn't come up with much.

Could a couple of people give a ballpark estimate of what they spent during the application season, including ERAS fees, transportation/hotels for interviews, etc.? And also state how many programs you applied to/interviewed at?

Thanks a ton.

Syranope

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[razorback58]

First you have to pay ERAS and NRMP to get started. Second if you are applying to more than one speciality the cost increases. It also increases if you are couples matching.

Second, most programs picked up one night of hotel expense. It is good to get your interviews in a congo line and do them in close proximity and very very close in time - like the next day or so. Pick up the hotel expense yourself and save travel cost and time.

We did a couples match and got started in late October due to some circumstances beyond our control. We applied to 20 programs and got 15 interviews. We were applying to family practice in the same program and eventually got a prematch offer and accepted it. What really sucked is we were on the last interview when the call came in.

It depends on if you are looking in one geographical area that you can drive to or applying all over the country. We applied to several southern states and drove. However, one of the biggest expenses we had was when we interviewed in Ohio and had to buy a plane ticket and rent a car. We got one day of hotel expense, but we had to pay the night of the interview because we used up the night prior to the interview. That is why we ended up canceling our interview in North Arkansas and Illlinois.

I guess we spent somewhere around $3500 or so after application fees, transporation cost, extra hotel expense and food. We did this for two people, however the cost would have been very close to the same had I done it by myself.

Hope this helps.

 

[gutonc]

I tried to search on this and didn't come up with much.

Could a couple of people give a ballpark estimate of what they spent during the application season, including ERAS fees, transportation/hotels for interviews, etc.? And also state how many programs you applied to/interviewed at?

Thanks a ton.

Syranope

The variables are too many to make a useful answer. If you're applying to 10 programs in one city (or w/in a day's drive) such as the Boston/NYC/Philly area, you can get away as cheaply as the base ERAS fee. Applying more geographically broadly and to >30 programs? You can spend upwards of $3G in travel/hotel/food. Refuse to fly coach? Look to spend $25G.

I had classmates who only applied to NYC programs and spent the bare minimum. Other folks who applied to more competitive specialities who had 30+ interviews and prelims on top ended up spending a truckload of cash.

You'll definitely spend between $100 and $10000. Without knowing what you're applying for and where it's hard to be more precise.

 

[StudentDoc327]

I did 12 interviews North, South, and both coasts. Used 1 credit card for all expenses: eras, applications, plane tickets, hotel, food, etc. I generally used the hotels recommended by the programs with a couple of exceptions. Didn't rent a car, used public transportation when I could and cabs for the rest. Expenses totaled about $5000.

 

[IFNgamma]

As an FMG applying to a competitive speciality (surgery) I applied to over 130+ programs so ERAS alone cost me about $3K. Travel + lodging probably cost me another $3 - 4K, I lived on the West coast and had to fly to East coast 4 or 5 times for 2 or 3 interviews each time. Don't forget about the cost of Step 2 CK ($700) and CS ($1200), which added another $2K. I never really tallied up the expenses until now, looks like I spent about $10K

 

[DeLaughterDO]

As stated above, depends on the geographic outlay of the programs to which you are applying, the number of programs, and whether or not you can get interviews lined up nicely - if things do not go your way, the total can be anywhere from 3k - 10k easily.

best of luck

jd

 

[dpmd]

Cost varies based on where you apply, what you are applying for, and how competetive an applicant you are.

Some numbers to get you started

ERAS fees:
Release of USMLE transcripts $50
First ten programs $60
Second ten $8 each = $80
Third ten $10 each = $100
Each program above 30 $25
NRMP match fee $55

Interview expenses are more variable. My specialties (ortho and g surg), fed you lunch (and sometimes breakfast), otherwise you were on your own (except for one place that paid for a hotel room).

Be careful if trying to save money using priceline. They don't let you make changes, so you may end up with double costs if you need to change a date. You can try to coordinate with people to share hotel costs (either through your school, or using that one site I can't remember the name of that emailed our entire class and is just for student use, maybe someone else knows what I am talking about). It can be expensive, but in the end more interviews means more chance of matching (if that is a concern for you).

By the way, I spent about 4K the first time, and 5K the second time (didn't get many interviews for ortho, and only applied nearby for g surg this year). Not including step 2 costs.

 

[plastikosmd]

bout 10k here...that was 7 years ago..flyin all over God's good creation (well the USA portion at least).....did get to drive from one end of Ohio to another...sure give me the rear wheel drive mustang rental..let me have some fun....so hit the road...wonder why only the mustang is left to rent...in january...snow maybe? boy that was a trip to remember...sideways..backwards...only portion of the car that wasnt in a snowbank at any point was the roof.

 

[Winged Scapula]

I spent about $3K. Most programs DID not pay for the hotel (in my surgical experience), and I tried to drive to as many interviews as I could and organize them together, but it does get expensive (the above includes cost of two suits, blouses, shoes, etc. as well).

The last minute flights are what really get you...many programs don't give you more than 2 weeks notice.

 

[pjl]

It costs a baseline of $110 for application fees, which includes 10 programs. If you are doing a prelim year then add $60 for the 10 prelim spots (cant buy less than 10 to start), add in another 15 each for 11-20, 25 each for 20-30, 35 for 30+. So reasonably say 300 for applications.

Add on the cost of a car drive+hotel for close ones, or plane ticket plus hotel for far ones. Or if you are lucky and your hotel is paid for just add in the transportation.

Say you do 10 interviews, 5 fly, 4 drive (only one in town interview) and hotels are paid for, like me, you spend roughly 2500.

Add a suit if needed, a few hundred more dollars.

 

[Leforte]

I spent close to $5k, and interviewed at 11 places.

If $ is tight, get one of those Medex loans for 4th year students ($12k, and you start paying 3 years after graduation).

If you are applying to a competitive field, don't let lack of $$$ to interview be the reason you don't match.

 

[3dtp]

I spent about $3K. Most programs DID not pay for the hotel (in my surgical experience), and I tried to drive to as many interviews as I could and organize them together, but it does get expensive (the above includes cost of two suits, blouses, shoes, etc. as well).

The last minute flights are what really get you...many programs don't give you more than 2 weeks notice.

Didn't do the blouse routine, but did have to buy a suit. Most of my primary specialties then didn't use ERAS -- they used the Universal Residency Application, which saved a fortune since you could digitize and fill it out by computer change a few things, print the whole thing out and drop it into an envelope for a buck each. Had to use ERAS for the TY and that was pricey.

All told I spent around $4k.

Last minute flights do get you. I have and fly my own plane, so that saved a fair amount, and I did try to do the "conga line" setup where I'd schedule cities in a big loop so I didn't fly excess hours, but the weather during interview season is dicey for small planes, so I did end up jumping a flight at the last minute, once. If you know a pilot (check your local airport flight school) catch a ride or even take a lession or two.

 

[DoctorPhud]

Edit: Awww crap, hubby logged in and I posted under his account again. This is jennyboo, not DoctorPhud.

ERAS & NRMP FEES
Release of USMLE transcripts $50
First ten programs $60
Second ten $8 each = $80
Third ten $10 each = $100
NRMP match fee $55

INTERVIEW ATTIRE (female)
Suit $200
Suit tailoring $30
Shoes $85
Shirt $25
Make-up and accessories (socks etc) $50

INTERVIEW TRAVEL EXPENSES
Roughly $1000. I interviewed at 19 preliminary and residency programs total, of which I drove to 14 (took train or plane to 5). I paid for 2 hotel nights and the residency programs paid for 4 hotel nights; the rest, I either stayed with a friend or went home for the night.

Grand total of the above expenses: $1735.

Looking at the above, it seems I spent relatively little compared to others. Applying to nearby programs and driving helps, staying with friends helps, and applying to a specialty where many residency programs set aside money to pay for your dinner and hotel (as well as the crappy melon-bagels-juice-and-coffee breakfast at the interview itself, and your lunch during the interview day) helps.

 

[mlw03]

a bunch of ya'll have mentioned the issue of setting up geographically close interviews back to back if possible. how do you do this? for example, if UNC grants me an interview and i also applied to duke do i just call duke and say, "yo, i'm gonna be in the area can you please decide if i get an interview, and if so, may i do it when i'm there?" - i guess i'm just wondering how to make the request in the most polite manner possible.

 

[jennyboo]

a bunch of ya'll have mentioned the issue of setting up geographically close interviews back to back if possible. how do you do this? for example, if UNC grants me an interview and i also applied to duke do i just call duke and say, "yo, i'm gonna be in the area can you please decide if i get an interview, and if so, may i do it when i'm there?" - i guess i'm just wondering how to make the request in the most polite manner possible.

Programs usually offer interview dates once or twice a week, every week (except perhaps Christmas and Thanksgiving) over at least a couple months. I printed out a calendar each from Word for the months November, December and January and filled in the dates as I accepted and scheduled interviews.

I was definitely offered enough choices that I could pretty easily book interviews in the same geographic area, during the same week. In fact, programs in the same city or region often deliberately stagger themselves so that interviewing candidates can go through all of them in a week with no conflicts. I didn't have to call and ask them for the interview -- usually if the interview was offered, I could easily book it the day before the program across town.

 

[radonc]

a bunch of ya'll have mentioned the issue of setting up geographically close interviews back to back if possible. how do you do this? for example, if UNC grants me an interview and i also applied to duke do i just call duke and say, "yo, i'm gonna be in the area can you please decide if i get an interview, and if so, may i do it when i'm there?" - i guess i'm just wondering how to make the request in the most polite manner possible.

yes you can do that, but try not to be presumptious or pushy.

 

[mlw03]

i'm gonna be going thru it this year too and i'm figuring around 5 grand for everything, since i live in the south and hope to be doing a few interviews in the upper midwest and pac northwest. while i cringe every time i have to enter my credit card for another expense, what gets me through it are 2 thoughts: 1) scrambling would suck mightily and 2) you only have to do this once, so if at all possible, don't go cheap.

 

[Blade28]

Expect to pay around $2000-$6000, depending on how much flying you'll have to do.

 

[radonc]

as you can imagine, the cost of applying/interviewing depends on a lot of factors:

# of programs
location of programs
driving vs flying
hotels/motels
tolls & gas (if driving)
cabs or rental cars (if flying)
food
suit/nice clothes
drycleaning

and probably more

 

[Cards21aceking]

Rather than creating a new thread, figured I'd bump this one up and see how the current 4th years are handling the financial burden in these tight economic times.

 

[ranmyaku]

Second, most programs picked up one night of hotel expense.

I think this should say most do NOT pay for a hotel. Unless you are applying the Family Medicine, or are going to community programs in the middle of nowhere, I wouldn't count on getting free hotel rooms. Out of 12 interviews, I got 1 hotel room paid for.

 

[bjackrian]

I think this should say most do NOT pay for a hotel. Unless you are applying the Family Medicine, or are going to community programs in the middle of nowhere, I wouldn't count on getting free hotel rooms. Out of 12 interviews, I got 1 hotel room paid for.

I got 3/12 hotel rooms in pediatrics (2/3 at competitive--for peds--programs) and another 3/12 heavily subsidized hotel rooms. So there are some out there.

 

[RxBoy]

Cost of Interview Trail = (1/Competitiveness of student) x (Competitiveness of Field) x (Paranoia^2) x $1000

As you can see, a competitive student going into an uncompetitive field with baseline Paranoia level of 1... It'll cost you around 1000 bucks total.

An uncompetitive student going into a competitive field with a baseline paranoia level of 3... Well you can see how you start hitting the 20K mark.

 

[Bruingirl6]

I can't remember how many programs I applied to. I interviewed at about 15. I went to med shool on the east coast, and I interviewed at a lot of west coast programs, so that increased my costs.
I spent about $6500. Still paying on that loan

 

[MedObsession]

I applied to 30, interviewed at 15 all across the US.

I spent $3000 total. Lucked out and had family or friends to stay with in most cities.

 

[Danbo1957]

Cost of Interview Trail = (1/Competitiveness of student) x (Competitiveness of Field) x (Paranoia^2) x $1000

As you can see, a competitive student going into an uncompetitive field with baseline Paranoia level of 1... It'll cost you around 1000 bucks total.

An uncompetitive student going into a competitive field with a baseline paranoia level of 3... Well you can see how you start hitting the 20K mark.

These are sage thoughts.

Be sure and get a grip on the reality of your competiveness in your match choices. If you pretty much know that you won't match at Hopkins, or don't want to live in Seattle, strike those from your visit list from the start. If you want to apply to 30 residencies, pare it down to 20.

Of course, if money is no object...

 

[fakin' the funk]

Figure around $200-300 per program you plan to apply to. That includes ERAS, travel, hotel, etc. Of course it could be more or less depending on:

1. whether or not the hotel is paid for by the program (if not, PRICELINE baby)
2. if you're going to be driving to a local area vs. flying cross-country for every interview
3. how adept you are at linking interviews in the same area together to minimize flying (by FAR the most expensive part).

I went on 25+ and spent $6000. I think I got out lucky. Most reasonable people apply to 15 or 20, go on 10 or less, and spend probably <$3000. Be reasonable!