How many med schools to apply to?

[rehtse]

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Hi everyone. I was wondering if anyone knows the average number of medical schools that students usually apply to? How many schools is too many? The thing is that I'm from California and there are already 8 schools that I'm applying to and I still want to apply to more out of state schools. Thanks!

 

[Winston Smith]

Well since you're from Cali I'd say apply to around 20 or so schools. It is difficult to give an exact number. I know someone who applied to only 5 and got in and another who intends to apply to around 50 (but I think 50 is a bit excessive). I think the most important thing to do is look at the MSAR and determine what schools you have a good shot at getting into. Obviously if you have a 3.5 GPA or so applying to all Ivy-league schools might be considered a long shot.

Hope that helps.

 

[roxtu]

I agree with WS.
From my experience, most people I talked to applied to 10-20 schools unless they were from a state with lots of in-state opportunities (CA, NY) and then they applied to 20+.

I was a Washington State resident and applied to 15 schools. I have talked with applicants who only applied to 1 school, but they were non-traditional applicants entering medicine as a second career, with families and lives such that they'd only go to school if it was located in a place they already lived.

Apply to a range of schools, though! I got rejected outright from some schools where I thought I had a good shot, and got interviews at some of my "reach" schools.