Free alternative to MSAR

[Okazaki Frag Grenade]

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Anybody know if this site is legit? Seems to be a free MSAR type of program, for the thrifty pre-meds out there.

I don't really mean about the proposed rankings. More about the admission data, median scores, etc.

http://medical-schools.startclass.com/

 

[frosted_flake]

I'm broke as a #2 pencil and I shell out cash for the MSAR. It is SO much easier to read... and very organized (which I like).
I think it would be an alternative if there was NO option to gain access to MSAR though.

 

[candbgirl]

Penny wise pound foolish?
So how much is the premium edition to get the other information?


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[Rekt]

Just casually looking, it's very outdated

 

[gyngyn]

I only trust direct data from the MSAR.
There is nothing about special programs, demographics, OOS interviews or acceptances...

 

[Okazaki Frag Grenade]

Penny wise pound foolish?
So how much is the premium edition to get the other information?


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The premium thing threw me off too, but you just have to sign up and it gives you all 10 categories of info, still free. It's actually pretty thorough, but I have no idea how official the numbers are. I lost my MSAR subscription so I can't compare the numbers right now.

 

[frosted_flake]

Since threads involving "how is the cost of living" pop up frequently, this could potentially be a source for those questions.

Apparently in Westwood they offer alternative medicine... 🙄

 

[WedgeDawg]

This is an outdated resource. It's been brought up before and really doesn't stand up to the MSAR.

The MSAR is $26. It's the most important $26 you will spend during your medical school application cycle.

 

[Ismet]

This is an outdated resource. It's been brought up before and really doesn't stand up to the MSAR.

The MSAR is $26. It's the most important $26 you will spend during your medical school application cycle.

Dang, used to be $15. Still, invaluable resource.

 

[GrapesofRath]

Just so much perfect irony in the fact that people every single year have zero problem at all shelling out $100s each year on schools

a) That dont take OOS applicants
b) Explicitly say we dont take people who arent from bordering states
c) Dont meet the OOS cut offs a school clearly states.

And yet always try to find ways to get out of not having to shell out $25 for something that saves hundreds of applicants each other. All the while not realizing that $25 would have saved them from doing what I just described above. Actually just perfectly epitomized our culture right there.

 

[Mwooster]

If your are eligible for FAP, then you can gain access to MSAR for free.

If not, then cough up the money, OP, even it means eating canned beans for a few meals straight

 

[Okazaki Frag Grenade]

If your are eligible for FAP, then you can gain access to MSAR for free.

If not, then cough up the money, OP, even it means eating canned beans for a few meals straight

Oh I didn't really need to buy it anymore. My cycle is wrapping up now and I'll be headed somewhere in the fall, just not sure where yet. I was more just curious about the site in general.

Although I am a cheapskate.

 

[takis]

if you are so poor that you cannot afford the $25 for MSAR, you should apply for AAMC fee waiver which gives you a highly reduced price for taking the MCAT, waivers the first 15 school's secondary and primary fees, and gives you the MSAR for free for 2 years.

 

[Turkishking]

If your are eligible for FAP, then you can gain access to MSAR for free.

If not, then cough up the money, OP, even it means eating canned beans for a few meals straight

I was about to say the same thing

 

[Psai]

There was a project on here where people put their school's stats and stuff onto a spreadsheet

 

[wanderlustmed]

It's a little unsettling seeing how critical people are of poorer applicants... I will continue in my search to find a free alternative.

 

[Spector1]

you could perhaps try to share a msar login between multiple people since it doesnt limit the number of simultaneous users to make it cheaper

 

[JustAPhD]

It's a little unsettling seeing how critical people are of poorer applicants... I will continue in my search to find a free alternative.

Donate plasma once, there you go the MSAR is now covered.

The MSAR probably would pay for itself many times over for most applicants, that's why people are saying you should buy it no matter how poor.

 

[Lawpy]

It's a little unsettling seeing how critical people are of poorer applicants... I will continue in my search to find a free alternative.

Why bother? The $26 is a necessary investment for a valuable resource like the MSAR. Nothing else can come close to it. The $26 can be gathered easily.

 

[bananafish94]

Speaking as someone who is monumentally cheap and gets all of his clothes from a church thrift store, buy the MSAR.


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[wanderlustmed]

Do you find it conceivable that someone might not even have $26 to spare? To you it might just be $26, but to someone else it could be a week's worth of food or the difference needed to pay rent on time. Considering how much economic status serves as a barrier to those entering medicine, it's disheartening seeing this kind of response from fellow pre-meds

 

[Lawpy]

Do you find it conceivable that someone might not even have $26 to spare? To you it might just be $26, but to someone else it could be a week's worth of food or the difference needed to pay rent on time. Considering how much economic status serves as a barrier to those entering medicine, it's disheartening seeing this kind of response from fellow pre-meds

How would you finance your application, secondaries, interview expenses etc.?

 

[Mansamusa]

Do you find it conceivable that someone might not even have $26 to spare? To you it might just be $26, but to someone else it could be a week's worth of food or the difference needed to pay rent on time. Considering how much economic status serves as a barrier to those entering medicine, it's disheartening seeing this kind of response from fellow pre-meds

But they said: The MSAR will pay for itself many times over. If it prevents you from applying to one school, it already pays for itself. And if you are incredibly poor, FAP will pay for the MSAR. Plus, applying will be way way more than $25, so don't apply until you have money saved up.

 

[gyngyn]

It's a little unsettling seeing how critical people are of poorer applicants... I will continue in my search to find a free alternative.

However poor one is, the first $27 spent on an application cycle must be this resource. It is not negotiable. Free advice that is incomplete or wrong is not free, it's very expensive.

 

[Mansamusa]

However poor one is, the first $27 spent on an application cycle must be this resource. It is not negotiable.

Especially for applicants with below average gpas. With so many schools having 3.8 medians, it is hard to tell which ones are amenable to sub-3.4ish applicants and which ones would give you no chances

 

[gyngyn]

Especially for applicants with below average gpas. With so many schools having 3.8 medians, it is hard to tell which ones are amenable to sub-3.4ish applicants and which ones would give you no chances

I would agree and add that the applicants with the least resources are the greatest beneficiaries of reliable information.

 

[Cara Delevingne]

A free alternative to the MSAR is...

your friend's MSAR.

 

[DoctressM]

I wish I had bought MSAR back when the cycle opened. I just went school by school reading stats and requirements. It was a lot of time, now I am debating if I want to add more schools to my app, but it would only be DO schools. I wonder if there's an MSAR equivalent for DO.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

If your are eligible for FAP, then you can gain access to MSAR for free.

If not, then cough up the money, OP, even it means eating canned beans for a few meals straight

Is there an age limit at which point you don't have to list your parents? I'll have been financially independent for about 15 years by the time I apply, 35, and married with two kids. I think it's absurd that I have to list my parents.

 

[Atom612]

I wish I had bought MSAR back when the cycle opened. I just went school by school reading stats and requirements. It was a lot of time, now I am debating if I want to add more schools to my app, but it would only be DO schools. I wonder if there's an MSAR equivalent for DO.

http://www.aacom.org/docs/default-source/cib/cib_web_full-publication.pdf?sfvrsn=36

^ I think that's the closest you'll get. It's what I used this cycle.

 

[LizzyM]

Is there an age limit at which point you don't have to list your parents? I'll have been financially independent for about 15 years by the time I apply, 35, and married with two kids. I think it's absurd that I have to list my parents.

On the AMCAS application, listing parents is optional but it bears no relationship to financial aid if that's what you are thinking about. Information about your parents is used as measure of your SES as a child and, perhaps, how your parents' career choices may have influenced your own.

On financial aid forms, you may be required to provide information about your parents financial situation if you wish to be considered for institutional (non-governmental) aid. It's the school's money and they get to say what you need to provide to them to qualify for a piece of their pie.

I'd guess that roughly 99% of the applicants list their parents names, living (yes/no), County of residence, occupation, last school attended and highest degree attained on the AMCAS.

 

[mdapp2021]

is it worth getting msar if i've already submitted applications? I'd never heard of it until just now...

 

[LizzyM]

is it worth getting msar if i've already submitted applications? I'd never heard of it until just now...

If you have the interviews you say you have without the benefit of the MSAR, you are doing just fine as is.

 

[mdapp2021]

If you have the interviews you say you have without the benefit of the MSAR, you are doing just fine as is.

okay thank you. I think I need to get off this site everything's making me nervous.

 

[DoctressM]

http://www.aacom.org/docs/default-source/cib/cib_web_full-publication.pdf?sfvrsn=36

^ I think that's the closest you'll get. It's what I used this cycle.

Thank you. That's what I used too, went to all the links and saw what I could aim for (which isnt much with my stats) but Im waiting and waiting..

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

On the AMCAS application, listing parents is optional but it bears no relationship to financial aid if that's what you are thinking about. Information about your parents is used as measure of your SES as a child and, perhaps, how your parents' career choices may have influenced your own.

On financial aid forms, you may be required to provide information about your parents financial situation if you wish to be considered for institutional (non-governmental) aid. It's the school's money and they get to say what you need to provide to them to qualify for a piece of their pie.

I'd guess that roughly 99% of the applicants list their parents names, living (yes/no), County of residence, occupation, last school attended and highest degree attained on the AMCAS.

Fair enough. I just think it's weird that they use my parents' info when I haven't relied on them in 15 years and have kids of my own. It is what it is though.

 

[LizzyM]

Fair enough. I just think it's weird that they use my parents' info when I haven't relied on them in 15 years and have kids of my own. It is what it is though.

Even if you haven't relied on them in 15 years, if they are-let's say- multimillionaires, a donor to the medical school scholarship program might expect the school to ask you to tap your parents for funding rather than first asking for donated funds for your education.

 

[Akewataru]

Even if you haven't relied on them in 15 years, if they are-let's say- multimillionaires, a donor to the medical school scholarship program might expect the school to ask you to tap your parents for funding rather than first asking for donated funds for your education.

Does your parents' martial status matter?


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[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Even if you haven't relied on them in 15 years, if they are-let's say- multimillionaires, a donor to the medical school scholarship program might expect the school to ask you to tap your parents for funding rather than first asking for donated funds for your education.

That makes sense. My parents are not hurting for money, but they don't make enough to be able to help me with application fees or tuition or anything. Like I said, I'm not complaining because that doesn't do diddly. I just think it's odd that there's no leeway for people who have removed themselves from parental dependence by a significant degree (not just by age, either).