Has anyone here applied to everything in sight?

[Mr. Furious]

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Hello everyone, I'm Mr. Furious 😡

I was fur...er, curious as to whether anyone has actually applied to 40 different medical schools. I was told it's good to cast a wide net, and I can see that a lot of people applied to many different schools. But who here holds a record of having applied to the most schools? I think it's really cool to do that and I think that when my time comes I'll apply to 40 schools myself. 😛

It just seems to me like everyone I know
applies to that same little group of schools as their "number one choice". Realistically I can't see *all* of them even getting so far as an interview when the class size is a hundred and surely they aren't the only ones wanting to go there.

I have confidence in my grades, future MCAT scores and interviewing skills, but I'm still griping about applying to "the schools that everyone wants to attend". Obviously I will apply to about 40 schools nevertheless since the application fee is a drop in the bucket. For example, the Yale application fee is $65. Applying to 40 GOOD schools that hypothetically would cost that same price to apply would cost $2600. $2600 is nothing compared to what a full medical education costs. And I'd rather pay that and go to med school (one out of 40 has to work out) than to wait a year and apply again to "everyone's number one choice". I hear of people who nearly make it a career out of applying to medschool and I'll be the first to admit that this makes me uncomfortable with applying to just a few. 😛

 

[Wednesday]

Welcome 😡

Enjoy Mystery Men, do you?

Here is the answer to your question:
<a href="http://www.studentdoctor.net/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=003971" target="_blank">who applied to the most schools (old thread)</a>

Personally, I think applying to 40 schools is a little much. Remember, you have to attend interviews too, so it costs a little more than the secondary fee. And there's the $30 AMCAS fee per school. Plus long distance fees to call and make sure things arrive, etc. Ultimately your decision. If you have decent grades/MCAT/ECs/personality, you should be okay with less than 40.

Good luck!

 

[PainMan]

your reasoning is like saying if a couple that have one child with an autosomal recessive gene disease, then the next three have to be healthy.....

 

[SMW]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by MrFurious:
• I hear of people who nearly make it a career out of applying to medschool and I'll be the first to admit that this makes me uncomfortable with applying to just a few. 😛 •••••Welcome to SDN! 🙂 There's quite a bit of room between applying to a few schools and applying to 40!! I applied to 23, and let me tell you without a lot of help from SDNers (an incredible resource!) and my Mom (typing secondaries) and the fact that I'm not in school or working, I would not have been able to keep track of and stay on top of it all. I've been to 6 interviews so far, with 8 more scheduled, and the financial hit has been incredible (thanks, Mom & Dad 😎 ). With all that said, I am a proponent of applying to 15+ schools. I think the whole deal is an incredible crapshoot, and you do want to maximize your odds. I think if you realistically assess your application, you can apply to a realistic range of schools and stay under 25. I was an August MCATer, and so didn't know my stats while applying and doing the majority of my secondaries. BTW, my stats aren't that great, so I probably still would have applied to the same number of schools had I known. I know of one person on this board who applied to 50 schools. That seems insane and impossible to really do justice to all the secondaries. Best of luck to you, whatever you decide. 🙂

 

[Mr. Furious]

Wednesday, Thank you. And yep, I do.

Enjoy the Addams Family much? 😛

Anyway, I understand that 40 is a lot of schools to apply to, but I'd choose 40 good schools because my main priority is becoming a doctor. I hope I get quite a few acceptances and that's the most important thing. See, if what you want is to be a doctor you can't afford to get caught up in a competitive system for several years. And I'm not just doing this to get a "statistical" acceptance; I'll do it because even if I don't fit the profile of your preferred applicant to school Z, I then have the chance to find out that school X is dying to have me. Maybe I'd be happier there.

3mc1dj,

...there must be a pony... 😀

Mr. 😡

 

[lady in red]

Well, I am that person--58 schools! I could not handle it sanely, so, I withdrew applications (did not do secondaries) for some of them. I lost track which...

 

[Wahoo]

Depending on how you look at it, it may actually hurt your chances to apply to so many schools. I, for one, know that I was getting pretty burned out after doing my 12 secondaries. Applying to more schools would have decreased the quality of each of my secondaries, and hence might have actually reduced my chances at acceptance.
I suggest applying to 10-20 schools, and spreading your apps across a range of reach, average, and "shoe-in" (there is no such thing) schools.

 

[Mr. Furious]

SMW, thanks for the welcome. I think that any expense made towards your medical degree is worth it, because later on you can certainly afford to pay all your loans in no time, when you are a practicing physician. I am still a couple of years from applying but I am very set on what I want for myself. Maybe by the time I'm ready to apply I'll laugh at my post about applying to 40 schools, or maybe I'll be surprised that I was so right this early in the game.

Lady in Red, what was the payoff? Did you get any acceptances? Thanks for replying.

Wahoo, here is something your post has made me think about: Do medical schools KNOW how many schools you've applied to? It's a real hard not to look desperate to adcoms when they know you've applied to every medical school in the country! 😛

Mr. 😡

 

[THE instiGATOR]

<img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" /> Oops, did I laugh!?! Good luck, MrFurious! You'll need it.

Having been there...done that...I think you need to sit down and select ~25 med schools. If you choose wisely, you don't need to apply to 40 schools. Why do you need 10 acceptances? If you get 1 that you're happy with, as I did, you'll probably end up dropping a bunch anyway (which means wasted money). It's my opinion that you SHOULD drop a bunch if you get an acceptance and aren't seriously considering the other schools. It's the considerate thing to do. Of course, this is only my opinion. You're free to do what you want.

Brace yourself! I don't think you realize what you're getting into!

 

[Mr. Furious]

Foxy,

in any other field of study, yes, this would sound like a joke. But addicted as you appear to be to SDN, I'm sure you've heard it all before 😀 about how hard it is to get in. Look at Lady in Red, she took that same idea (which I'll admit, is far from Original) and ran a marathon with it! 58 schools? There, now that's a lotta schools.

Mr. 😡

 

[Wahoo]

Nope, schools don't know which other schools you've applied to. However, at a few interviews I was asked what other schools I was considering... I think they ask this because they want to see that there was some theme unifying the schools you applied to, so they know that you're not just applying to 40 schools without regard for how well they fit your personality.

 

[FLY]

•••quote:••• Nope, schools don't know which other schools you've applied to. However, at a few interviews I was asked what other schools I was considering... ••••SO what would a person applying to about 50 schools would answer??

 

[Wahoo]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by FLY:
• •••quote:••• Nope, schools don't know which other schools you've applied to. However, at a few interviews I was asked what other schools I was considering... ••••SO what would a person applying to about 50 schools would answer??•••••Well, they'd probably either have to sound foolish and admit that they applied to 50 schools (and then give a darned good reason why this particular school was important to them)... Or they'd lie (or at least bend the truth) to make it sound like they'd applied to a lesser number of schools.

 

[matthew0126]

mrfurious, i think you need to take a look at your stats/ec's/etc. and then judge accordingly. my good friend applied to 30-some schools and only got 3 interviews, so it was a good choice for her. i applied to 15 schools (mostly california and nyc schools) and ended up getting 12 interviews, which was too much.

okay so don't take this the wrong way, i'm not trying to brag. what i'm trying to say is if you have good stats, don't be ashamed of them and underconfident and apply to 25-30 schools just because everyone else is. you'll end up wasting your money and time.

i know some people are going to disagree, but if you have high gpa, high mcat, great application and ec's, i'd say apply to 10-15 schools.

 

[SMW]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by MrFurious:
•Lady in Red, what was the payoff? Did you get any acceptances? Thanks for replying.

Wahoo, here is something your post has made me think about: Do medical schools KNOW how many schools you've applied to? It's a real hard not to look desperate to adcoms when they know you've applied to every medical school in the country! 😛 •••••Well, I know these questions weren't addressed to me, but........... the point is, lady in red, who is a great candidate, and will undoubtedly get accepted into some great schools, couldn't keep up with all those apps. Not doing the secondary means you haven't really applied. So she can't really say if it paid off.

Med schools don't know from your app how many schools you've applied to, but in my experience, they're very curious about it at interviews. You'd better have a good explanation for how many, and why you applied to tht particular school.

From your comments, Mr. Furious, it does not appear to me that you've seriously considered what experienced applicants are telling you.........Oh well, some people only learn from experience! 😛

 

[matthew0126]

mrfurious, i think you need to take a look at your stats/ec's/etc. and then judge accordingly. my good friend applied to 30-some schools and only got 3 interviews, so it was a good choice for her. i applied to 15 schools (mostly california and nyc schools) and ended up getting 12 interviews, which was too much.

okay so don't take this the wrong way, i'm not trying to brag. what i'm trying to say is if you have good stats, don't be ashamed of them and underconfident and apply to 25-30 schools just because everyone else is. you'll end up wasting your money and time.

i know some people are going to disagree, but if you have high gpa, high mcat, great application and ec's, i'd say apply to 10-15 schools.

 

[SMW]

Here's <a href="http://www.studentdoctor.net/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=004656" target="_blank">a more recent thread</a> addressing the question of how many schools we all applied to.

 

[Diogenes]

Mr. Furious, you sound like you have no idea what you are talking about. Granted you are a few years away from applying, but consider this: if you can't get into 1 out of 20 or 30 schools, applying to 40 or 50 is not your best bet of improving your chances. Your best bet is to make yourself a better applicant starting NOW, while you still have time.

On one level you are right that this is a numbers game, but playing the numbers game only works for the extraordinarily small fraction of applicants who are right on the razor's edge. The odds of you being in that fraction are very small (because so many applicants get into many schools or none), and you can work to move yourself up above that fraction. If you are not in that fraction, you are wasting your time and energy by applying to so many schools. You may even hurt yourself, since it will be difficult for any admissions committee to believe you are genuinely interested in THEIR school if they find out you applied to 40 others. Even if your credentials are marginal, you can be smart about what you say on your applications, and will get interviews. And once you get an interview, your credentials matter much less and how you conduct yourself in your interview matters more.

Don't waste your time on 40 or 50 applications. Just do well with the ones you do submit and really nail your interviews.

 

[Mr. Furious]

Thanks to all who replied. SMW, in spite of what you are saying NOW it looks like a lot of you have applied to over 20 schools. I'll be sure to learn from your experiences, and from those of the people who will be coming here for the next two years.

Like I said, I have confidence in a lot of my stats, even those I have yet to produce 😀 . But one thing I'll admit is that I'd better learn how to do a good personal statement in the next two years. That I don't think I'd be ready for today. I'm used to stream-of-consciousness type ranting. Picture a personal statement written by Robin Williams on caffeine. <img border="0" alt="[Wowie]" title="" src="graemlins/wowie.gif" /> Maybe I should put my remaining undergrad years to good use and take some advanced English composition classes. 😡 😛 😡

Mr. 😡

 

[Mr. Furious]

Hi, bjc, you make a good point (and you're not the first to make it in this thread).

I believe I can manage well the interviewing process. It's the "personal essay" thing that worries me the most. It's one of the (many) things that really make or break your application. <img border="0" alt="[Pity]" title="" src="graemlins/pity.gif" />

Like you said, I don't know what I'm talking about and I won't know till I get there. I just want to use wisely the time I have left until then since I definitely know what I want to do with my life.

But I will let you in on this, the university where I am an undergraduate also has a school of medicine. Last year, 29 people who graduated from my University were accepted into the medical school. So it looks good. I might just apply to about five schools since I really do not mind going to my uni's medical school.

Mr. 😡

 

[Tobtolip]

40 SCHOOOLS!!!! MY gah man... are you really gonna fill out all those secondaries =P Not to mention, how did you afford application cost, geeze! =P

 

[bald]

he wont do it.

 

[souljah1]

All this talk about applying to forty schools seems enveloped in paranoia. I think you should sit down with yourself, take some deep breaths, put on some marley, and apply to those schools that you: a. feel you have a chance with, b. feel are a good match for you, c. are located in an area where you think you'll be able to have a life outside of medical school, d. insert other reason here.

I'm a CA resident. Not insanely fabulous stats 3.8gpa, 32R, but like to think that I am unique. I do think that the personal statement is incredibly important and know for a fact that many schools look at it to prescreen for secondaries (many of the ucs). it is definitely not only about numbers. I applied to 11 schools (CA,NY,NJ) and received 10 secondaries. Thus far, I have been requested to interview at 6 of those schools.

Often I would find myself wanting to apply to 20+ schools. I'm glad I didn't. If you apply wisely, I don't think you need to apply to more than 15 schools.

 

[vyc]

just to put a statistical perspective on this whole topic, i think the national average for people applying is 15 schools and the CA resident average is 25!

that said, i'm a CA resident and applied to 29.
i filled out secondaries for 27.
i've gotten 9 interview requests and only went to 7. i've been waitlisted at one school and accepted at another, and still waiting to hear from the other 5 i interviewed at.

looking back at the whole process, i would have applied to less schools, especially in the lower rankings.

 

[Dr. Dad]

I don't know if applying to 30, 40 or 50 schools is a good idea. The experts (ie: people who know something about the system by working it for years, not just the people who went through the system) say that it is best to apply to between 8-12 schools. A nice combination of state public, state private, and out of state private. They say that first off, each school knows what other schools you applied to. So if you applyed to fifty schools it appears like you are playing a numbers game and may count against you. Secondly, if you apply to that many schools it lowers the quality of each one (as far as your interviews, response time, etc) because you cannot possibly spend much time concentrating on any one school.
My friend applied to only three schools with average stats (about a 3.4 and 30 MCAT), but she spent a lot of time researching the schools so that she had effective interviews and she just got accepted a week ago.
It seems that most of the people who applied to that many schools seem to have problems getting in (especially from the people who post on SDN).
I am no expert on this, but it is food for thought.

 

[BushBaby]

#1- Don't live in fantasy "lala" land

Be realistic...apply to two groups of schools-one that you know you have shots at (depending on your scores). Maybe 10-12 of those.
Then you can reach for the stars by pushing your luck a little by applying to 4 higher ranking (?) schools.

#2- Save your money

Do you know how much 40 schools will set you back in primary costs alone.....not to talk of secondary (if they all send you one)

#3- It's impossible to apply to 40 schools

I say this because even if you scored a 33-45 on the darn test you lucky dog only need to apply to 12 schools (assuming your gpa is in good standing), write a good essay and interview well with nice EC's. You are bound to get in somewhere....I think.

If you score between 22-33 then this limits your choices of schools to around 15 or so....this goes back to #1 where you have to be realistic and apply to schools where you have a shot.

Applying to 40 schools is unrealistic and a waste of money. Only AMCAS will profit from this mistake.

 

[oldman]

40 schools? I can't imagine. I applied to 26 schools and I was going nuts filling out secondaries. I turned some in late because I had too many essays to fill out. The only reason I was able to stay on top of everything (to a certain extent) was because I graduated from college and was unemployed. I was a full-time applicant.

 

[Keith]

hey mrfurious, don't worry about the critics and apply to as many as you have the money and energy to apply to. since you've been reading sdn, you probably seen "this whole process is a crapshoot, you can't depend on a good gpa and macats" a thousand times. that said, a perfect number of schools is up to you!!!! i don't agree w/ those that say your odds aren't increased with more than 20 or 30 apps. just look in the MSAR and you will see that with more schools, acceptance rates go up. there is no solid theories that hold up when explaining this application process. i've gotten interviews at schools that rank over 25 spots higher than some i've been rejected by. you are going to lose schools at every step of the appliction process. (didn't get a secondary, rejected post-secondary, rejected after interview) so why not have some choices when the dust settles. you also have to consider the money end of it will vary from school to school, so initial investment might save you tuition. good luck.

 

[souljah1]

I tend to agree with Dr. Dad. I think he made some very good points.

What do you say when you are on an interview and they ask you what schools you applied to? Rattling off half of the US med schools may show them you are not confident, and might make it seem as if you don't have personal reasons for their school.

I think if you are well thought out, 15 schools will be fine. There is no formula, but applying to 40 or more is unnecessary for anyone. The "crapshot" stories we hear about super high mcats and gpas not getting any love may mean that their personal statement was weak, that they were too timid in their interviews, etc..there is a lot that goes into it. Good numbers don't assure you of much.

I wish you the best of luck, regardless of how many schools you choose. I do recommend choosing schools when you mind if focused and you are free from self doubt and pessimism.

Please keep this in mind. AMCAS will not be affiliated with as many schools next year. Many schools are fed up and will most likely stop their relations with AMCAS. This equals a little more work for the primary process.

The hotter the battle the sweeter the victory. Down with AMCAS.

 

[SMW]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by oldman:
• The only reason I was able to stay on top of everything (to a certain extent) was because I graduated from college and was unemployed. I was a full-time applicant.•••••Ditto! (with 23 schools)

 

[SMW]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by Dr. Dad:
•
My friend applied to only three schools with average stats (about a 3.4 and 30 MCAT), but she spent a lot of time researching the schools so that she had effective interviews and she just got accepted a week ago.
It seems that most of the people who applied to that many schools seem to have problems getting in (especially from the people who post on SDN).
•••••I think your friend was incredibly lucky. Baylor21 applied to 31 schools and has probably the best acceptance record of anyone on SDN!!

My advice, unless someone has very good stats, EC's, LOR's, and essays ( all very good, not just some) and comes from a fairly high ranked undergraduate school, or is URM with good stats, is to apply to15 - 25 carefully chosen schools. Seems to be working for me. 🙂

 

[lady in red]

I got interviews at schools I would never dreamt of in my sleep! And, I got rejected from schools I thought I had a good shot at. Anyways, none of my 'predictions' came true. My interview list is really weird. There is NO consistency at all what 'kind' of schools like particular applicants. It also depends who reviews your file and what mood they wake up in that morning. I played the number game, and it seems to be working for me. i DID spend a lot of time on each secondary. however, if i scored higher on the mcat, i would not have applied to 58 schools. hey--I still have 37 left to get back to me!

 

[Mr. Furious]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by lady in red:
• hey--I still have 37 left to get back to me!•••••<img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" />

Simply unbelievable. I think not even I would have the guts to apply to 58 schools. It's a good thing it's medical school because when the adcoms ask, "So, Mr. Furious, how many schools have you applied to?" and I say "58" there will be plenty of doctors around to save them from dying laughing.

Mr. 😡

 

[lady in red]

Hey Furious--thats just me, don't be furious! I just don't want to go through this hell next year, so I decided to get it over now. Statistically, you increase your chances, the more schools you apply to. I know people will disagree with me, but i don't have the luxury of high numbers to apply to 15 schools and hope I get in. I am just sayin--it worked for me so far.

 

[megkudos]

I applied to 13 schools and my stats are average (2 acceptances so far). If you choose carefully there is no need to do that to yourself!!! I mean if your stats are good, you'll probably get in a bunch of places, and your gonna have to choose sometime! Why not make some choices before all the trouble, money, and time, and save yourself the hassle.

 

[Doctora Foxy]

I applied to 18 schools and sometimes I wish I had applied to more because I have yet to hear good news.

The most important thing is to apply early, though. This is where I messed up. If you are trying to apply early while filling out 25+ applications, that would be very difficult, especially if you're still taking classes like me.

Also, I couldn't really have applied to a billion schools because if your numbers are lower than average, it's kind of pointless to apply to out of state public schools. I couldn't even find 25 schools that were compatible with my location and stats, so future applicants, keep in mind your chances of acceptance when applying.

Buena suerte a todos! 😀

 

[irongirl]

I would advise not wasting your money on applying to 50 schools. If you don't get into the first ten, you probably won't get into the next ten, or the next ten... I sent in ten secondaries, and I would have sent in FEWER if I had known how many interviews I was going to get. I don't have outrageously high numbers, just a good GPA and solid MCAT, but I have a lot of EC's. There are tons of people out there who like to freak out premeds and tell them how unlikely they are to be accepted, etc., etc., etc., which makes you feel like you have to apply to a lot of schools, but you don't. First of all, don't apply until you have done your best to insure that you are a competitive candidate, and apply to schools that are likely to accept you. That's just my advise, for whatever it's worth.

 

[Doctora Foxy]

Maybe to correlate the number of schools we applied to to the number of acceptances so far, will shed some light on this topic. Let's disregard factors such as grades, undrgrad, and anything else, just for statistical purposes.

18:0

that's 18 secondaries and zero acceptances so far

If you think this is pointless then just don't reply 🙂

 

[SMW]

Good idea, Dr. Foxy! Why don't you start a new thread doing that? Maybe add in interview invites too.

 

[Doctora Foxy]

OK, I will 🙂

 

[lady in red]

irongirl: i don't agree. There are people here getting interviews at Harvard and getting rejected at Case Western. It depends on who reads your file and who interviews you, and there is NO WAY in hell to predict or 'research' that. What if they just don't like the way you look or talk or something you wrote in your essay? you can't say 'one particular school seeks this kind of applicant', because if you look at medstudents at any given school, they are widely diverse, even at the much-scolded Vanderbilt. Sure, there are some kind of profiles that schools like to see, but what if you are faced with 5,000 of identical profiles? How would you choose? I am just saying, that just because the first 10 schools reject you , does not mean the next 10 will.

 

[CoffeeCat]

Nobody appears to be considering the cost to the applicant if she/he doesn't get in! Can you imagine applying to 10-15 schools (esp if you're in CA) and NOT getting in? How stupid would you feel to not have added another 10 or so to your list? It's easy to get rejected from 10 schools. How much do you think it would cost you in time, regret and money?

 

[SMW]

CA is a special case, I think. Prople also have to take into account the overall strength of their application as well. There is not some magic number that's right for everybody. Some people obviously undervalued their app from the looks of things on the application/interviews/acceptances/rejections thread.

 

[rajneel1]

CA people need to apply to more schools in general. because if you think applying to medical school is a crapshoot...applying to CA medical schools is like a random game. i didn't have MCATs that were that great. i applied to 30 schools and suggest that CA people apply to atleast 20. i was surprised at the interviews that i got and didn't get. so i agree with lady in red. i think it is very important to apply to a lot of safety schools. not just one.

 

[El Jefe]

I applied to about 15 schools, mostly top ten schools and the lesser Cali schools as back-ups. Big mistake, as I have yet to get an acceptance. California schools are so damn unpredictable and hard to get into, so now my only chance is with schools I didn't really think I was going to get into anyway.

 

[Keith]

MrFurious- i've been on 10 intervies as of today an have not been asked even once, "how many schools have you applied to?" they will ask where you have been interviewing sometimes. sometimes to see what you are looking for in a school and sometimes to guage if you would accept their offer if accepted i suppose. fact is, they never know how many schools you applied to. they only know where you are holding acceptances after may 15th. there is a reason why adcoms don't get your list of designated schools when they get your primary app. furthermore, they should never ask that question. this process is a crapshoot and where else your applying SHOULD have no bearing. dance around the question. give them some examples of some of the schools you are interviewing at, but you are crazy if you give them a comlete list of every school you've applied to or if you think you have to.

i also keep hearing how much money more apps cost. its cheaper to add more the first time than to go through the whole process again. but for those focused on money, HOW MUCH IS A YEARS WORTH OF LOST DOCTOR INCOME WORTH IF YOU HAVE TO APPLY AGAIN NEXT YEAR?

i'll say it again, apply to as many schools as you have energy and money to apply to.