How many of you guys actually buy the MSAR?

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het het

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Just curious as to how many of you guys even buy the MSAR, considering all the information available on SDN/MD apps, etc? Is there even a point?
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het het said:
Just curious as to how many of you guys even buy the MSAR, considering all the information available on SDN/MD apps, etc? Is there even a point?
Click to expand...

The most recent MSAR's are readily available at my school library. So I didn't buy it and most likely will not but I've definitely stopped by to look through it for specific information and I didn't even apply this cycle 🙄
 
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I split the cost with a friend, was definitely worth it for me. As Lollygag has mentioned however, I'd imagine your premed office probably has a copy or two for reference.
 
I definitely plan on buying it. 👍

On a related note, when can those of us applying next summer expect the updated version of the MSAR to be released? 😕
 
It's $20. Pocket change in the context of the entire app process.

So yeah, I bought it, and it's awesome.
 
I have a copy and I am planning on buying the next release.
 
Lollygag said:
Seriously?? I thought it was like ~$50 I didn't realize it was that cheap. Even if it's used that's still pretty good.
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It's 2012 bro, get the online version.

ORDER DETAIL

Product Qty Price Total Price
MSAR®: Online 2013-2014 1 19.99 19.99
 
It's very useful to see where you stand and it's super useful when you're making your school list (which can be a long process). Buy it, it's worth the $20.
 
I just bought the online access, I think it was $15 in spring 2011. I believe the new version comes out every April? There's no need to buy one before then in the year you're applying. You can't even submit your application until June, so a month (May) is more than enough time to make a list of schools and compare them.
 
I went online access, allowed me to take notes on specific schools. Definitely made narrowing down my list alot easier.
 
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het het said:
Just curious as to how many of you guys even buy the MSAR, considering all the information available on SDN/MD apps, etc? Is there even a point?
Click to expand...

All the information in the MSAR is available on SDN, MD apps and the school websites. All of that is true. But the MSAR had all that information in one spot and is easily searchable. The $20 price tag easily makes it worth it in the amount of time you will save.


Sent from my iPod using SDN Mobile app. Please excuse the typos.
 
MSAR is a good investment. US News is a waste of money.
 
Definitely worth it. I was skeptical about getting it, but a friend of mine gave me their information. It is so much easier to see the information and easily compare schools.
 
I got the online version and found it really helpful in making my school list. You can get some of the same information from each school's site (depending on how much they report) but I found that the MSAR was a handy way to keep it organized and a great quick reference.
 
So the AAMC website says that the MSAR is for 2013-2014...is the updated version already out? Since the access is good for one year, wouldn't it not hurt to buy it now for next cycle?
 
pv515 said:
I agree it's worth it, but the MSAR website works so inconsistently that the frustration almost takes away from the benefit.
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+1! No, +100000000

The most poorly-constructed site. It clearly was designed (not made) by the medical community rather than competent programmers or web designers (i.e., the people who they should have consulted). The mere fact that they have layered javascript over the entire site to prevent text selection and copying shows how unreasonably paranoid AAMC is over people stealing the material. Why should I be restricted from copying and pasting a school's name to learn more about it?

And how about the data presentation? It's tedious, and shows poor planning. It should NOT take me more than one click to get to the data I want, and the fact that "going back" means I go to the top of my list... OMG, this is what happens when "security" is a higher priority over providing a service. I paid for this data, for ACCESS, but what I've received is anything but!

Only in the medical community is this type of design still around. The 90s are over, but medicine just found out counters for their AOL homepage.

Sorry for the rant! TL;DR: MSAR is invaluable, but the site sucks. You have to suck it up and use it, as it's still better and cheaper than book form.

I do have to give props to MSKCC and UT Anderson for their sites.
 
Last edited:
het het said:
Just curious as to how many of you guys even buy the MSAR, considering all the information available on SDN/MD apps, etc? Is there even a point?
Click to expand...

I just thought I should point out tho, that SDN does not represent the general population of pre-meds. I think people who are on SDN tend to me more on top of things, hence why they even have an account. There's lots of pre-med's at my school who don't use SDN or they are just generally unmotivated and don't understand the application process completely. I doubt they even know what the MSAR is. But on SDN I'm pretty sure the majority of everyone here is on top of their crap so naturally most people here will be buying it or planning to use it.
 
To satisfy my light OCD, I had to buy it. I'm fine with the website, though it has a few negligible bugs. I have found the info to be useful and quick so I don't have to scour the web resources for (organized) basic info that they have on the MSAR.

Like ShenanigansMD said, 20 bucks is a small price to pay in the long run.
 
I borrowed it for free from my college.

It's interesting to look at, but honestly I feel like this process is pretty random in so many cases.....
 
I would definitely recommend buying it, I thought "what's the sense, it's all available online basically." but after looking through pages and pages of schools' websites I realized how convenient it could be to have it all in one place, in one format, and I purchased it. I have used it so much while applying, it was so nice being able to quickly compare schools and see important stuff like the GPA/MCAT spread, the OOS/IS ratio, course requirements, matriculant demographics, tuition, etc etc.

Even after I applied I have used it to see what kind of a chance my friends have at a certain school they are applying without putting too much effort in.

Borrowing it is ok, but I know several instances where I was at home and wanted to work on apps, or likewise waiting for a lecture to start and needed some info, or at my lab and needed quick details, having instant access was worth it.
Get it.
 
I'd buy it, but it only has info on MD programs, not MD/PhD so it's not of much use to me.
 
OCDOCDOCD said:
I'd buy it, but it only has info on MD programs, not MD/PhD so it's not of much use to me.
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It has some info for MD/PHD as well as other combined programs. You can search for schools that offer the MD/PhD, it lists the contact person for MD/PHD, as well as linking to the site where you can get more information on the MD/PHD specifically. It also lists how many people entered MD/PhD from IS/OOS, and how much money the school gets for research.

Besides the the information that is specifically tailored for MD/PhD, most of the MSAR information is applicable to a person interested in the MD/PhD, such as facility information, curriculum outline (for the MD portion at least), etc.

Sure it'd be nice if they listed the stipend and/or tuition waiver details, but I thought it was decently useful when comparing MD/PhD schools.
 
Worth it if you are going to be applying, you will use it plenty
 
I would definitely agree with the above about buying the online access to the school stats for $20. The newer versions of the print copy haven't included any school stats so they're pretty much useless
 
type12 said:
Sorry for the rant! TL;DR: MSAR is invaluable, but the site sucks. You have to suck it up and use it, as it's still better and cheaper than book form.
Click to expand...

True, but I thought that the US News Compass is poorly designed as well.
 
Barley426 said:
I have used it so much while applying, it was so nice being able to quickly compare schools and see important stuff like the GPA/MCAT spread, the OOS/IS ratio, course requirements, matriculant demographics, tuition, etc etc.
Click to expand...


The MSAR is super helpful when building the list of school you are applying to because you have all of the above statistics in one place. Having a quality list of school you are applying to and not just a random list can make all the difference in your application cycle. The physical book version is not helpful because it does not possess the above statistics.
 
I bought an older version of the print copy and it's helped keep me motivated so far. How much does the data change from year to year? My pre-med office only has one that's about 5 years old 😱
 
Data doesn't change much from year to year for established schools. However, given there are a ton of new schools cropping up in the past five years, there's a lot of missing data about those schools.
 
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