Cost of Applying to Medical School

[koolkid596243]

People ask this question every year and no one really gives a great answer. Having just finished the cycle, I figured I would answer it:

I spent:
$1338 on primary applications (sent to 31 schools)
$2418 on secondaries (sent to 26)

I made a video about it. It is linked in my signature (called: "Cost of Applying to Medical School" (Part 1)) and this also includes tips on how to save $$ in this insanely expensive process. I'll be making another addendum onto this once I calculate my interview expenses! Hope this at least gives a more transparent insight into the cost though

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[Dagrimsta1]

Cant forget the cost of travel, hotels/motels/hostiles, food, canceling work...
Why would anyone want to be a doctor..

 

[efle]

See relevant graphs in this post , a couple included below:

 

[koolkid596243]

Cant forget the cost of travel, hotels/motels/hostiles, food, canceling work...
Why would anyone want to be a doctor..

Very true. It was sad to see the numbers add up, but I guess that's why they say: "Don't do it for the money."

 

[koolkid596243]

See relevant graphs in this post , a couple included below:

I finished tabulating and I ended with 7000+ goddamn.

 

[efle]

I finished tabulating and I ended with 7000+ goddamn.

wow yeah you were way on the high side for costs, jeez

 

[alex.jl1994]

I finished tabulating and I ended with 7000+ goddamn.

Samee. $7550 to be exact

 

[Sixsuit]

I'm afraid I'll be joining you this cycle on the $7k club. I'm planning to apply to 35ish schools. If I get a couple of interviews I'll be up there for sure.

 

[koolkid596243]

Just gonna link this here in case any one wants to know how I ended up with more than 7000 LOL. GGGGGGGG.

 

[Gurby]

I was definitely in the 7k+ club. I was really good and frugal at first... By the end of the cycle I was flying to places I could have driven in 4 hours, staying in hotels every night, ubering everywhere, eating out for every meal. No ragrets though.

 

[WildWing]

SDN is working on finalizing a cost calculator to help you calculate your budget. It is being QA tested right now. If you want to check it out, please PM me and I can send a link.

 

[elliejellybean]

People ask this question every year and no one really gives a great answer. Having just finished the cycle, I figured I would answer it:

I spent:
$1338 on primary applications (sent to 31 schools)
$2418 on secondaries (sent to 26)

I made a video about it. It is linked in my signature (called: "Cost of Applying to Medical School" (Part 1)) and this also includes tips on how to save $$ in this insanely expensive process. I'll be making another addendum onto this once I calculate my interview expenses! Hope this at least gives a more transparent insight into the cost though

It actually costs you your soul.

 

[moggat]

This is definitely the best argument against reapplying.

(I feel like that ubiquitous "apply only when you have the best possible app" statement should come with an addition "--or else you'll be donating an extra $3000 to the medical school establishment")

 

[Robracer89]

10,000 dollars smh

 

[koolkid596243]

10,000 dollars smh

please tell me you're kidding :O

 

[Knicks17]

Did your investments pay off?

 

[Robracer89]

please tell me you're kidding :O

I wish lol. I applied to 35+places MD and Do. And all the other costs just added up idk

 

[AAAmeds]

Cant forget the cost of travel, hotels/motels/hostiles, food, canceling work...
Why would anyone want to be a doctor..

Not if you have a full-time job which includes vacation days...

 

[littledreamer]

I'm definitely over 10k in.....30 school applications and seven II. The problem being that 6 of the II were on the east coast and I live on the west coast. Those coast to coast flights will eat a girl alive......


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[Dagrimsta1]

I was definitely in the 7k+ club. I was really good and frugal at first... By the end of the cycle I was flying to places I could have driven in 4 hours, staying in hotels every night, ubering everywhere, eating out for every meal. No ragrets though.

Damn bro

 

[sullen-burger]

I was definitely in the 7k+ club. I was really good and frugal at first... By the end of the cycle I was flying to places I could have driven in 4 hours, staying in hotels every night, ubering everywhere, eating out for every meal. No ragrets though.

I feel that. It helped me with sef-esteem. Like that time I felt pretty confident going into an II after that delicious salad and unlimited breadsticks at the Olive Garden. Mmm-Mmmm!

 

[Crito]

Just curious, did y'all have years of savings, or huge credit card limits, or massive parental help? Did you take out an additional loan?

Looking at my personal finances, I'd have to save a significant chunk of my paycheck for the next 3 years if I wanted to drop $3500 in a short time during an application cycle

 

[3member]

Not if you have a full-time job which includes vacation days...

some of us were not as fortunate

 

[littledreamer]

Just curious, did y'all have years of savings, or huge credit card limits, or massive parental help? Did you take out an additional loan?

Looking at my personal finances, I'd have to save a significant chunk of my paycheck for the next 3 years if I wanted to drop $3500 in a short time during an application cycle

Massive, massive parental help. I'm on my own after this but I myself paid essentially nothing (less than 1k) for my application season.


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[Sixsuit]

Just curious, did y'all have years of savings, or huge credit card limits, or massive parental help? Did you take out an additional loan?

Looking at my personal finances, I'd have to save a significant chunk of my paycheck for the next 3 years if I wanted to drop $3500 in a short time during an application cycle

I'm in my 30s with a good career so it won't be too bad for me

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[voteknope]

Just curious, did y'all have years of savings, or huge credit card limits, or massive parental help? Did you take out an additional loan?

Looking at my personal finances, I'd have to save a significant chunk of my paycheck for the next 3 years if I wanted to drop $3500 in a short time during an application cycle

Yeah, I literally spent the vast majority of my savings that I had accumulated from my work study job in college and from working full-time for 2+ years. No parental help, but fortunately did not have to accumulate a huge amount of credit card debt. It was pretty crazy. Thankfully worth it, but crazy.

 

[JJRousseau]

Just curious, did y'all have years of savings, or huge credit card limits, or massive parental help? Did you take out an additional loan?

Looking at my personal finances, I'd have to save a significant chunk of my paycheck for the next 3 years if I wanted to drop $3500 in a short time during an application cycle

DO NOT put $7000 dollars on a credit card. Seek a personal loan being upfront with the fact that you will have little to no income from July following the application. You do not want to pay minimum payments on $7000 when the APR is close to 20% for four years. Total guesswork, but that number would probably quadruple (actually double, see edit) before you graduate...

EDIT: Little less guesswork - every month you will have ~ $100 dollars added to that amount after minimum payment. That means the amount would be about $12000 after medical school is done. And all the while you will have been using $25-$50 of your student loans on a monthly basis to pay the minimum payment.

 

[koolkid596243]

Yeah, I literally spent the vast majority of my savings that I had accumulated from my work study job in college and from working full-time for 2+ years. No parental help, but fortunately did not have to accumulate a huge amount of credit card debt. It was pretty crazy. Thankfully worth it, but crazy.

I also spent much of my savings, but definitely got some parental help. The job I had was a Kaplan job, and that actually paid pretty well, so I would look into test-prep since they definitely took good care of me. Kaplan paid about $35/hour (for teaching), and so I didn't have to work as much; most of my friends were doing research and that paid (AT MOST) $16-22/hour. So try that if you're interested!

 

[docE15]

Just curious, did y'all have years of savings, or huge credit card limits, or massive parental help? Did you take out an additional loan?

Looking at my personal finances, I'd have to save a significant chunk of my paycheck for the next 3 years if I wanted to drop $3500 in a short time during an application cycle

I had absolutely no savings by the time the cycle started, so I actually opened up a new credit card with 0% APR for 21 months. I put $7500 on it from June to October, continued working while paying it off in smaller increments and was able to pay it off early February working a VERY low pay part time job.


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[JJRousseau]

I had absolutely no savings by the time the cycle started, so I actually opened up a new credit card with 0% APR for 21 months. I put $7500 on it from June to October, continued working while paying it off in smaller increments and was able to pay it off early February working a VERY low pay part time job.


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This is a very good strategy as long as one is confident they will be able to pay it off in the 21 months 0% APR. Probably the best strategy outside of savings.

 

[Philtheparakeet]

Dropped around 3K. I have a nice research job that pays well and my partner makes a good income. I was lucky.

 

[koolkid596243]

Dropped around 3K. I have a nice research job that pays well and my partner makes a good income. I was lucky.

This is definitely on the lower end Good on you! How many schools did you apply to?

 

[Doctor Strange]

Sounds awful. I qualified for FAP and just applied to fourteen schools within driving distance. I pretty much only paid for gas...

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[Philtheparakeet]

This is definitely on the lower end Good on you! How many schools did you apply to?

Applied to 18 schools. All mostly within state and surrounding states. I didn't need to fly anywhere which saved me a ton of money.

 

[fivemoreminutesplease]

Just curious, did y'all have years of savings, or huge credit card limits, or massive parental help? Did you take out an additional loan?

Looking at my personal finances, I'd have to save a significant chunk of my paycheck for the next 3 years if I wanted to drop $3500 in a short time during an application cycle

I definitely spent a whole lot of money (thousands upon thousands) on the app process and I paid it all myself since my parents are supporting relatives back in our home country (luckily I work as a tutor and can set my own hours and rate).

 

[Vitani]

My whole app process cost about 5k. And resulted in... 1 acceptance. Best 5k I've ever spent at this point in my life. Just a drop in the bucket compared to the 65k-ish I wil be taking out to cover first year alone.

 

[deforestasian]

I applied to 30 schools, MD and DO, totaling about $8k+ ($10k+ if you count DO deposits...): 1 MD and 1 DO acceptance each

I financed my own cycle, but my parents allowed me to live at home for my gap year, so all my wages went to applications/savings.

 

[tarheelpenner]

Sounds awful. I qualified for FAP and just applied to fourteen schools within driving distance. I pretty much only paid for gas...

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me, except I applied to 15

 

[JB50]

Ya'll are nuts. I spent 2-3k and applied to 20 schools, 15 DO's and 4 MD

 

[amerrydeath]

Around 3.5k for me strictly in terms of fees + travel ("lucky" for me, I only got interviews in places I could drive to), but add to that at least 4k on I-don't-give-a-****-anymore eating out, trips, and other "unnecessary" things to keep me sane throughout So around 7k of credit card debt I tacked on to a card I opened with 0% APR for a year. I opened up a travel rewards card that gave you lots of points for spending a lot the first few months. It didn't work out quite as well as I had hoped but it helped a little when I flew to England to see my friend get married last month