Figure for the total cost of applications + interviewing?

[Nomemal]

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Hi I was wondering if anyone from experience knows how much it costs including the cost to go to interviews, etc. to apply to say 30 school. I want to have a general figure in my mind so I know how much I should try saving up ahead of time.

Thanks

 

[dohopeful12345]

Primaries are $1300
Secondaries $1500-2000
Interviews ~$500 each. The average interview for an acceptance is 3 so $1500.

$4300-4800 would be a very rough estimate

 

[AllBleedingStops]

Someone correct me if I am (grossly) wrong.

$170 x 1 = $170 (AMCAS)
$39 x 29 = $1,131 (primaries)
~ $50 x 30 = $1,500 (secondaries, lowball)
~ $ 100 x 30 = $3,000 (secondaries, high estimate)
Plane tickets, car/Uber/gas, accommodations vary based on your needs and where you interview. Also don't forget to factor in any dress clothes cost if you don't have something appropriate.
I like a $500 - 700 interview estimate - it would cover a plane ticket and hotel and meal if you don't go crazy expensive.

Averaging the secondary cost (2000) and assuming 500 x 2 interviews (because I believe in you OP) mine adds up to around $4300. Planning on at least $5000 would not be a bad idea. I know I spent more than 5k during the cycle but I applied to a mix of MD and DO and got several interviews.

 

[LizzyM]

Part of the "problem" (and not a bad problem to have if it weren't for the money) is that you really can't turn down any interviews before you have an offer and offers don't go out until October 15th at the earliest. Some schools hold all offers until late winter. So, you may not be able to stop at 3 interviews if you have more than that. Some people who are geographically well placed are able to drive to interviews which can save a ton of money.
There are a million ways to save including packing food for the journey rather than eating restaurant meals (everything in airports costs more than elsewhere), limiting yourself to a carry-on to avoid baggage fees, taking buses or trains in place of cars or planes for short hauls (5 hours or less), the aforementioned credit cards (one with miles might land you enough points to qualify for a free flight), bunking with school hosts or with friends/relatives, and buying business attire in charity thrift shops in affluent communities (the best thrifting is in stores operated "for a good cause" in towns where people can afford Burberry and Brooks Brothers).

Driving or taking a train between NYC and DC or Boston and staying with a student host will cost far, far less then $500. On the other hand, flying from Miami to Milwaukee is going to cost you, particularly in the winter season when you are competing with snowbirds.

 

[sophop]

I saved and budgeted $5000 for the whole process, but ended up spending $3000 on (over)applying. To keep interviews to $2k, I did a lot of what @LizzyM suggested: no driving but was lucky to have 8 within train/bus/subway distance. Flew to another 7 but was able to crash with friends, family, and a few hosts - and I now have some miles to use for (hopefully) the residency process. I did splurge on a hotel the night before one of my top choices (and ended up there, so I guess it was worth it). Unfortunately, all of my IIs were before I received an offer, so I was in no position to turn any down. Parents kept saying "it's the cost of doing business...."

 

[theKingLT]

Someone correct me if I am (grossly) wrong.

$170 x 1 = $170 (AMCAS)
$39 x 29 = $1,131 (primaries)
~ $50 x 30 = $1,500 (secondaries, lowball)
~ $ 100 x 30 = $3,000 (secondaries, high estimate)
Plane tickets, car/Uber/gas, accommodations vary based on your needs and where you interview. Also don't forget to factor in any dress clothes cost if you don't have something appropriate.
I like a $500 - 700 interview estimate - it would cover a plane ticket and hotel and meal if you don't go crazy expensive.

Averaging the secondary cost (2000) and assuming 500 x 2 interviews (because I believe in you OP) mine adds up to around $4300. Planning on at least $5000 would not be a bad idea. I know I spent more than 5k during the cycle but I applied to a mix of MD and DO and got several interviews.

Your high estimate for secondaries is actually more accurate. This cycle I paid $2450 for 25 secondaries.

 

[Wahkoon]

I'm at $6,000 with around 30 apps and 4 interviews. The interviews will make it hard to estimate. For me, having 3 interviews on the opposite coast inflates my travel cost - around 4x as much as my instate interview. Going into applications, I had >$5,000 saved (2x gap year) which I knew would be enough to comfortably apply while I am still working full-time.

 

[Chromium Surfer]

I'm at $6,000 with around 30 apps and 4 interviews. The interviews will make it hard to estimate. For me, having 3 interviews on the opposite coast inflates my travel cost - around 4x as much as my instate interview. Going into applications, I had >$5,000 saved (2x gap year) which I knew would be enough to comfortably apply while I am still working full-time.

On average how much have your coast to coast interviews cost in total? I am going to be living in the DC area but could potentially have to fly back to the west coast( Cali) or the southwest ( AZ), so I am trying to estimate how much to save for those.

 

[sophop]

Had to do both of those runs (but from a different east coast city). They were both in the $300+ range, staying with hosts/friends. Some other $$ hints I picked up along the way: a couple of times I was able to "negotiate" interview dates when I noticed big differences in flight costs (I just called or emailed - and always received polite responses); check out the school specific threads for local transportation advice; share Uber/Lyft rides, esp. back to the airport after interviews.

 

[Chromium Surfer]

Had to do both of those runs (but from a different east coast city). They were both in the $300+ range, staying with hosts/friends. Some other $$ hints I picked up along the way: a couple of times I was able to "negotiate" interview dates when I noticed big differences in flight costs (I just called or emailed - and always received polite responses); check out the school specific threads for local transportation advice; share Uber/Lyft rides, esp. back to the airport after interviews.

I didn’t even think about checking the school specific threads for that type of info, thanks for the tip!

I thankfully will be able to stay with hosts as well if make these trips. Do you think for people living in the DMV area it’s significantly cheaper to fly out from one of the airports in Maryland?

 

[PursuingHappy]

On average how much have your coast to coast interviews cost in total? I am going to be living in the DC area but could potentially have to fly back to the west coast( Cali) or the southwest ( AZ), so I am trying to estimate how much to save for those.

I live in the DMV area and plane tickets to Cali are from 400 to 500 depending on if u fly out of BWI or the other airports. I find that BWI seems to be cheaper than DCA or Dulles.

 

[Chromium Surfer]

I live in the DMV area and plane tickets to Cali are from 400 to 500 depending on if u fly out of BWI or the other airports. I find that BWI seems to be cheaper than DCA or Dulles.

Thanks for your input!

 

[esob]

I budgeted 10K and I'm sure I'm going to break that, if I haven't already.

 

[aldol16]

This will be highly variable depending on how competitive you are because that determines the number of interviews you get. It's not very informative to base your decisions on the average - get a sense of how competitive you are. If you're super competitive, expect more interviews (10+ is not uncommon for very competitive applicants) and plan accordingly. You can almost always stay with med students during the interviews so the main cost is usually transportation. This will also be a huge factor. If you're on the East Coast, it'll generally be cheaper and easier because you can typically find cheap fares from major East Coast airports (JetBlue, Southwest even, etc.). But if you're on the West Coast and flying to the East Coast every time, you're gonna start digging into savings pretty quickly.

 

[sophop]

From the glass-half-full side of me: II costs was one of the big pluses of having really bad luck with Cali schools.

 

[tibwolf]

I'll be in Japan when I apply, so I'm going to budget around $15k for applications and potential travel. Here's to hoping that schools are flexible with dates if I'm ever so lucky!

 

[Chromium Surfer]

Had to do both of those runs (but from a different east coast city). They were both in the $300+ range, staying with hosts/friends. Some other $$ hints I picked up along the way: a couple of times I was able to "negotiate" interview dates when I noticed big differences in flight costs (I just called or emailed - and always received polite responses); check out the school specific threads for local transportation advice; share Uber/Lyft rides, esp. back to the airport after interviews.

could you expound on what you mean when you said that you negotiated interview dates?

 

[sophop]

could you expound on what you mean when you said that you negotiated interview dates?

Generally, my II emails included 2 or 3 options for dates. If those dates had unusually high fares around them or if I already had another interview in the area (NYC), I just called or emailed "by any chance, do you have any openings on ______?" I think I only did this 4 times, I checked to see when the schools normally interviewed so I wasn't proposing random dates, I never actually "negotiated," and I never mentioned other interviews. Everyone was always super polite, and often responded with a lot more options than the original email. I just realized that I did misspeak earlier about not being able to withdraw from any IIs. I did push an interview until after I hoped to start receiving decisions, and was able to back out after I got into a school that I would have liked better (I kinda felt bad, because they had been REALLY nice).