How many is TOO many?

[Piper84]

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Hi all,

Sorry if this question has been asked before but I couldn't find it in the 'Nontrad' forum. I've been told over and over to apply widely and to a lot of schools. My question is this... how many schools is TOO many?

At what point do you look desperate to med schools?

I am a CA resident and based on my stats, I feel like there is a slim (to none!) chance of getting in to a CA school. Yet I still want to apply... this alone will add another 7 or so schools to the list. $$ is definitely an issue also (as is for most nontrads probably).

Thank you for any advice!

 

[DrMidlife]

Med schools don't get told what other med schools you apply to.

The upper limit of how many schools to apply to is based on how much money you can realistically spend, and whether you decide to do the research to avoid applying to a school that's going to auto-reject you (ie OOS for AZ) or that you wouldn't possibly consider attending (ie Hasidic for Loma Linda).

IMHO it's more important to apply to the right schools than the right number of schools.

Best of luck to you.

 

[vc7777]

IMHO it's more important to apply to the right schools than the right number of schools.

Wel, therein lies the problem, Dr. Midlife.

Really, speaking only for myself, I was only able to tell what were 'the right schools' with a little introspection and a LOT of retrospection.

I think of it like putting yourself up for auction on eBay: You are the item for sale, and the medical schools are the buyers. Assuming you 'market yourself' properly, the group bidding determines your final price in this auction. What if you don't get the attention of the right buyers? Sell yourself short? Or worse, No Sale? 🙁

If you were the equivalent of, say, an XBox 360 (i.e., a traditional applicant), setting your price would be very easy. In a heartbeat, you would know if you are getting a lousy deal or a great one because there are so many XBoxes that have been sold.

But since this is the nontrad forum, I assume you are unique. Maybe rare art? Certainly you are a real piece of work! (just kidding! )

To steal a line from Tolstoy:

Traditional applicants are all alike; every nontrad is nontraditional in their own way.

How do you set the price on your uniqueness? Like fine art, you can make assumptions and educated guesses, you look for examples in other applicants on this thread. You talk and talk and talk with other nontrads until you are blue in the face. You understand the market as much as you understand your application. But still, in the end there is no formula.

 

[gman33]

If you are a borderline candidate, you almost can't apply to too many schools. A friend of mine was in that position and he applied to about 50. His thought was that he only wanted to apply once and he was willing to go anywhere. He got into his #1 choice, but had no regrets.

Post some stats if you want more specific advice.

Also, don't just apply to all the same safety schools as everyone else.
Some schools get 10-15,000 applicants. From a pure odds standpoint, they are some of the hardest schools to get into.

 

[mspeedwagon]

My plan is to apply to 10 M.D. schools (mostly the UCs) and 10 D.O. schools. This is going to be dependent on my MCAT though. I may sacrifice a few of the UCs if my MCAT is not very competitive and apply to other other M.D. programs instead. If my MCAT is high, I'll scale back the D.O.s to the few D.O.s I most want to attend (likely the ones in CA).

Hi all,

Sorry if this question has been asked before but I couldn't find it in the 'Nontrad' forum. I've been told over and over to apply widely and to a lot of schools. My question is this... how many schools is TOO many?

At what point do you look desperate to med schools?

I am a CA resident and based on my stats, I feel like there is a slim (to none!) chance of getting in to a CA school. Yet I still want to apply... this alone will add another 7 or so schools to the list. $$ is definitely an issue also (as is for most nontrads probably).

Thank you for any advice!

 

[NTF]

If you:

1)rack up an enormous amount of CC debt because of app fees and interview travel
2)write crappy secondary essays because you have so many to finish it all becomes a blur
3)don't even bother doing secondaries for many schools cuz you're just burnt out writing essays
4)start skipping interviews because you're too tired or running out of money
5)accidentally put the wrong school name in some of your essays because you have so many apps you can't keep them all straight
6)end up with late completion dates because you just couldn't find the time to finish your secondaries
7)start tanking interviews because you're exhausted

then you applied to too many.

But hey, if you got the money and time and stamina, apply to as many as makes you happy.

I personally think anymore than 15 is diminishing returns. But what do I know.

 

[peripherin]

If you're from California, you will have to apply to more schools than residents of other states. It's better to apply to more schools and get in your first try than to spend another year reapplying. I applied to 35+ with 8 interviews.

 

[docelh]

35 is too many.

Go big or go home, I say.