How many MD schools do you recommend applying to?

[radioactive15]

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[treesnm3s]

I've heard that you should try to apply to at least 15 schools.

 

[gyngyn]

It depends on your state, stats and personal qualities.

 

[Espressso]

With OP's gpa/mcat numbers, they can apply to any school they wish.

 

[GrapesofRath]

If you are from a lucky state(IS matriculation >30-35%) apply to your state schools and only the OOS schools you would turn down your state school and their juicy IS tuition for. You're very likely to get into one of your state schools with stats like these in a state like Indiana, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kentucky etc.

NJ isnt one of those states so your goal is have a "dozen" target type schools. These will be the ones you can go in saying you have a reasonable shot at getting a II at. For you those will be ones with an MCAT median around yours that get <10k apps a year, are OOS friendly(ie for you SLU, Jefferson, Einstein etc). Other goal is to find those where you fit the mission reasonably well(ie dont apply to Loma Linda if your life goal isnt to serve Christ or dont apply to research powerhouses without having research experience). Beyond that, the rest is mostly just gravy. Fill in a handful of reaches or other schools that for some reason draw you. IF you can interview decently, thatll be plenty.

This is the link for IS matriculation to gauge your state
https://www.aamc.org/download/321466/data/factstablea5.pdf

 

[Rainbow Zebra]

Is 25 the accepted norm? Is that too much/little?

I have 2 state schools in my state.

I obviously want to maximize my chances of obtaining an acceptance, but don't want to be throwing away money in application fees when I don't have to.

(GPA: 3.9, MCAT: 90+ %ile)

I did 24 secondaries, and it was too much, see my MDAPPS. However, if I was a reapplicant, it would be too little. Depends on a lot of things. Figure out the cost of having to reapply, and it settles it - - more is better. Do it once, do it right.

 

[DokterMom]

Your numbers are very strong -- What about the rest of your application? And what kind of school do you want to attend?

Many of the most prestigious schools are research powerhouses and will want to see some serious research from most successful applicants. The most prestigious will also generally want something exceptional on the EC front as opposed to adequate amounts of 'cookie cutter' ECs.

So if your research is low-to-average and your ECs are adequate but not stellar, I'd suggest ~5-10 schools in the 'upper tier' (rank ~5-30) and 5-10 in the 'upper middle' (ranks ~30-60) plus your two state schools. Don't bottom-fish your safeties with your numbers, and don't stack the deck too high unless you've also got the research and 'something extra' the very top schools also require. For what it's worth, I'm using (US News) 'rank' as a rough guideline, NOT because it's very important or even accurate. And do make sure that the schools you apply to are appropriate -- mission, IS/OOS, cost, location.

 

[eteshoe]

15-25 is typical. If your ECs are comparable to the stats you gave, you may end up with quite a bit of interviews - and thus wish you applied to less lol. But it's better to be safe than sorry.

 

[Pagan FutureDoc]

The better you chose the schools you apply to the less you need to apply to. Even at that I wouldn't go under 12-15 school.
On the other side secondaries are expensive and time consuming doing over 20-25 seems insane to me.

 

[moisne]

I applied to 6. My roommate applied to 50+. I think it's a combination of how competitive you are and how lazy you are 😀 (and maybe how rich you are and how much time you have).

 

[Dr. Trenb]

@moisne 50+? good god, did his/her fingers fall off after 35?

 

[mimelim]

Even Harvard students are told to apply to 20ish. But, as with everything, it depends of how strong an applicant you are and where you are applying. Strong numbers but lackluster everything else and only applying to the top schools is a recipe for a lot of silence.

 

[jih]

I shotgunned about 42 schools on my primary, but when secondaries came out I realized that I had no business applying to about 10-12 of them, so I withdrew those applications. Definitely not worth it.

Sent from my SM-G925V using SDN mobile

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

Depending on your stats if max out at 30. If you have FAP, apply to at least 15

 

[To be MD]

I shotgunned about 42 schools on my primary, but when secondaries came out I realized that I had no business applying to about 10-12 of them, so I withdrew those applications. Definitely not worth it.

Sent from my SM-G925V using SDN mobile

Duly noted. Thank you.

 

[ChrisMack390]

SDN would be mad at me if I posted how many I'm applying to (don't worry its not even remotely close to 100!!!). I have the money though (benefit of being a nontrad 🙂 ) so why not?

If I had time to study for the MCAT 4-5 hours every day for 4 months, I have time to work on essays 4-5 hours per day for 1 month.