How Many Med Schools to Apply for?

[pillowfighty]

What is an appropriate number of schools to apply for? I'm not close to applying yet, but I just wanted to gauge what I should be researching. Probably gonna make an Excel spreadsheet on requirements and alike. My top choices are UCSD School of Medicine, as I go there now, and UCSF. Should I shoot for OOS if my results allow or keep it down to only a few? Thanks!

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[premedalt]

I think the average is around 16. If you have red flags or low stats, you should probably apply to more. You can look up the wedgedog applicant rating system on sdn to figure out what percentage of your school list should be low, mid, and high tier schools.

 

[DoctorSnow]

It's hard to answer without stats/ECs. You can go over to the WAMC forums and make your post. The lovely adcoms on SDN can help craft a great school list to start with.

 

[Gilakend]

If I was a Cali resident I would apply to ~25-30. Pre-write secondaries.

 

[jarednogeek]

Bad state 25-30 Texas 10 mid range 15-23. Borderline application 30+

 

[mrnovember27]

California is very competitive IS, you’ll probably want to apply to OOS as well

 

[altblue]

Don't get too set on any particular school, especially not a Cali school...

Given the competition for CA programs, apply to lots of OOS schools that are OOS friendly, like Case and Oakland. The list will depend on your stats. Have your final list looked over at WAMC

 

[PreMedMissteps]

My top choices are UCSD School of Medicine, as I go there now, and UCSF. Should I shoot for OOS if my results allow or keep it down to only a few? Thanks!

You’re instate for Calif, a very unlucky state. You do need to shoot for OOS. Apply to at least 25 schools...maybe more. Don’t apply to a bunch of high reaches.

 

[Dwight Snoot]

I applied to 15 and it was still so much work. It baffles me how people can apply to 30+. If you have a solid application (and other people have told you this) I see no need for more than 20.

 

[kinzane]

For anyone reading this thread in 2019, I felt I had to apply to 30 schools since I didn't take a gap year.

 

[puahate]

For cali folks 20 should be the min.

Average is 15 for most applicant

I think 20 is a decent number.

I am applying to 25 to 30 schools most likely.

 

[gyngyn]

Most CA applicants must go OOS to attend medical school.
Last cycle, 1,043 got to stay in CA, 1,542 had to go elsewhere.
4,291 CA applicants applied to UCSD last year, 119 matriculated. The median gpa was 3.8 and the median MCAT was 517. No one (however accomplished) can expect to get into any particular school.
It makes sense to pay at least as much attention to your OOS list as IS (probably better to pay more attention to it!).

 

[Goro]

What is an appropriate number of schools to apply for? I'm not close to applying yet, but I just wanted to gauge what I should be researching. Probably gonna make an Excel spreadsheet on requirements and alike. My top choices are UCSD School of Medicine, as I go there now, and UCSF. Should I shoot for OOS if my results allow or keep it down to only a few? Thanks!

I recommend 20-30