How many schools did or will you apply to?

[On_The_Way_Up]

How many did you apply to? I know the average schools for an applicant is 14. At most how many should you apply to?

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[WedgeDawg]

I applied to 24. The number you should apply to depends entirely on your app and what state you're from. People from unlucky states (NY, CA, PA, etc) generally need to apply to more schools than people from lucky states (southern/midwestern states, Texas). There are very few people who need to apply to more than 30 schools. Likewise, it's generally advisable to apply to at least 15-20.

 

[Turkishking]

When I apply, I'm thinking 20-24 schools.

 

[thrudheim]

I applied to 14

 

[Nucleophile1]

I applied to 12 schools. 3 of those schools were pretty big reaches though.

 

[Gurby]

Sent the primary to 40 schools. Burnt out on doing secondaries and only finished around 24 of them (prioritized schools I cared more about or that had easy secondaries). No ragrets, would do it the same way again if I had to go back.

I applied to 12 schools. 3 of those schools were pretty big reaches though.

 

[Turkishking]

Sent the primary to 40 schools. Burnt out on doing secondaries and only finished around 24 of them (prioritized schools I cared more about or that had easy secondaries). No ragrets, would do it the same way again if I had to go back.

 

[Nucleophile1]

Sent the primary to 40 schools. Burnt out on doing secondaries and only finished around 24 of them (prioritized schools I cared more about or that had easy secondaries). No ragrets, would do it the same way again if I had to go back.

24 secondaries?! Kudos to you!

 

[Dr. Slimthick]

Applied to 23 schools, did 22 secondaries

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Probably going to apply to 15-16 MD and 5-6 DO.

 

[deleted781806]

I applied to 14 schools (MD only) with 2 reaches included in there. I think it was manageable and it worked out, but a couple more schools might have been a good idea (there were a couple that people would mention throughout the year that I forgot to consider haha).

 

[Gurby]

I applied to 14 schools (MD only) with 2 reaches included in there. I think it was manageable and it worked out, but a couple more schools might have been a good idea (there were a couple that people would mention throughout the year that I forgot to consider haha).

I feel applying to 2 reach schools is like buying a single raffle ticket - why even bother, aside from it's fun to fantasize about? If you're serious about winning that Gordon Ramsey autographed blender, and you have the means to do so, why not buy 20 raffle tickets?

The top schools are such a crap shoot - there are plenty of anecdotes about people getting into HMS after being rejected by every other top10. You never know if the right person is going to read your app on the right day and decide you're who they want. IMO you should apply to enough "target" schools to feel safe, a couple "safety" schools where you're ~80th percentile, and then add as many reaches as you can stomach completing secondaries for.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I feel applying to 2 reach schools is like buying a single raffle ticket - why even bother, aside from it's fun to fantasize about? If you're serious about winning that Gordon Ramsey autographed blender, and you have the means to do so, why not buy 20 raffle tickets?

The top schools are such a crap shoot - there are plenty of anecdotes about people getting into HMS after being rejected by every other top10. You never know if the right person is going to read your app on the right day and decide you're who they want. IMO you should apply to enough "target" schools to feel safe, a couple "safety" schools where you're ~80th percentile, and then add as many reaches as you can stomach completing secondaries for.

When your funds are limited, wasting money on a bunch of reach schools isn't prudent and takes away from schools that you have a realistic shot at.

 

[pseud0]

Applied to 14, got into 1 DO school. Praise the FSM.

 

[stickgirl390]

I applied to 13 MD. I'm from a "lucky state" (GA) and decided to ship off 9 applications to "unlucky states" because I didn't understand how the process worked. I also didn't have the MSAR. The way I look at it, I only applied to 4 schools that I was competitive at.

 

[honey0102]

24 MD and 3 DO. I definitely think applying to a wide range of schools will be important

 

[Catahecassa]

25 total--20 MD AND 5 DO.
I have a GPA that's around the 10th percentile at most schools coupled with a decent mcat, so I'm applying to a broad range. I broke the list into three tiers: 13 target schools, 4 slightly above my level, and 3 big reaches. Even with your reaches, be reasonable (>10%ile). None of that applying to Harvard with a 3.5/510 nonsense.

Also worth noting that I'm from a "lucky" state.

 

[fivemoreminutesplease]

Finished secondaries at 9 schools. Got into my dream school so it all worked out. But yeah I definitely wouldn't recommend that same approach to everyone else. Do your best to evaluate your app objectively and go from there.

 

[SUP360]

Gonnif, always brings it home with the data. That is a really interesting chart. I wouldn't have guessed such a high % apply to >25. Likewise, surprised such a high % applied to 1-4.

I have a f/u question @gonnif: When you apply to so many schools, can't the ad-coms see which ones accepted you??
So, hypothetically, say I want to get into Med School A+, but I get waitlisted/deferred.
If I've got multiple accepts at my "safety" schools, don't you think the Ad-Com at Med School A+ would be likely to look and say, "Well we liked this applicant, but she already has a couple accepts, so let's go ahead and reject her."

That's a weird fear I have of applying to too many schools. Even if the list turns out to be smaller, I only want to apply to schools that I would actually want to go to so I don't get pigeon-holed into moving to someplace I didn't want to go....

Am I off-base with that?

 

[ndafife]

Gonnif, always brings it home with the data. That is a really interesting chart. I wouldn't have guessed such a high % apply to >25. Likewise, surprised such a high % applied to 1-4.

I have a f/u question @gonnif: When you apply to so many schools, can't the ad-coms see which ones accepted you??
So, hypothetically, say I want to get into Med School A+, but I get waitlisted/deferred.
If I've got multiple accepts at my "safety" schools, don't you think the Ad-Com at Med School A+ would be likely to look and say, "Well we liked this applicant, but she already has a couple accepts, so let's go ahead and reject her."

That's a weird fear I have of applying to too many schools. Even if the list turns out to be smaller, I only want to apply to schools that I would actually want to go to so I don't get pigeon-holed into moving to someplace I didn't want to go....

Am I off-base with that?

This is very correct. The only reason Johns Hopkins rejected me is because I was accepted to my state school /s

 

[kopftonmd]

My plan is to apply to 20 MD and 4 DO, though that may change in the next month. I consider myself reasonably competitive (3.8/516), but I'm feeling quite risk-averse. The only problem is that the cycle will cost all the ca$h monayy I have...

 

[zerox117]

Completed 20 secondaries (5 of those being reach schools, gotta roll the dice sometimes!). Ultimately got into my dream school and 4 others. If I were you I'd do atleast 15 minimum. (Unless of course you're a superstar, even then it doesn't hurt to be safe!)

 

[pseud0]

My plan is to apply to 20 MD and 4 DO, though that may change in the next month. I consider myself reasonably competitive (3.8/516), but I'm feeling quite risk-averse. The only problem is that the cycle will cost all the ca$h monayy I have...

I bet you don't get any do responses because they think you're just using them as a safety

you will definitely get into an md School unless your interviews are terrible

 

[voteknope]

I applied to 26. Looking back that was way too many but I was so nervous and had very little guidance. Doing all the secondaries was literal insanity.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I wouldnt say that is so clear cut. My experience is that above will occur more as the waitlist cycle continues. However, it is still not the primary function. It also makes no sense that JHU would skip a WL because they got into a state school. The other way around, that is a state school would skip you because you got in JHU. A top school with an open spot will poach the state school acceptees to fill their seats. Additionally many schools will informally call a student on the WL who has acceptances and ask if they would consider an acceptance.

one other bit of data. Just under half of all matriculants get a single offer of acceptance. So remember the old saying, the process does not complete without the robust female sounding out melodically or something like that

I think the /s was supposed to denote sarcasm.

 

[honey0102]

I bet you don't get any do responses because they think you're just using them as a safety

you will definitely get into an md School unless your interviews are terrible

I had similar stats and got both MD and DO responses actually

 

[OchemOficionado]

I'm thinking I'll apply to 25 MD and 5 DO. (There's 10+ schools in my state so that takes up a good chunk)

I wanted to apply to 40, but I don't want my secondaries to suffer.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

I bet you don't get any do responses because they think you're just using them as a safety

you will definitely get into an md School unless your interviews are terrible

Nah, a good number of the DO schools will accept applicants like this knowing there is a chance that they slip through the MD cracks.

Edit: forgot to post my response to the thread. OP I applied to 20, it was a lot of secondaries but I felt it was worth it.

 

[Robracer89]

42 schools and did 33 secondaries

 

[ese2]

I applied to 24. The number you should apply to depends entirely on your app and what state you're from. People from unlucky states (NY, CA, PA, etc) generally need to apply to more schools than people from lucky states (southern/midwestern states, Texas). There are very few people who need to apply to more than 30 schools. Likewise, it's generally advisable to apply to at least 15-20.

Would you consider Illinois an unlucky state since so many of Illinois med schools are private?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using SDN mobile

 

[Dr.Kat]

42 schools and did 33 secondaries

about the same as you - I'm from california sooooo I did around 30 secondaries

 

[bannie22]

I think I applied to 28

 

[pseud0]

I literally dont think i would have had enough money to do 42 apps and 33 (!!) Secondaries. Thats like 4 thousand dollars ir something insane

 

[Robracer89]

about the same as you - I'm from california sooooo I did around 30 secondaries

I feel you man. It's a struggle I just wanted to give myself the best chance of getting in no regrets

 

[Robracer89]

I literally dont think i would have had enough money to do 42 apps and 33 (!!) Secondaries. Thats like 4 thousand dollars ir something insane

Yeah you are spot on it was 4000 dollars just for apps. I don't even wanna factor in my travel costs lol. I just wanted to give myself the best chance of getting in

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Yeah you are spot on it was 4000 dollars just for apps. I don't even wanna factor in my travel costs lol. I just wanted to give myself the best chance of getting in

Jeez. Definitely couldn't afford that.

 

[Catahecassa]

4,000 may seem crazy, but if you're one of those folks with borderline stats that has the cash to fund the apps it is likely a wise decision (assuming a well chosen list of schools).
Think of it this way: would you rather (1) spend 4,000 on one cycle and matriculate a year early or (2) spend 2,000 on two cycles (4k total) and matriculate a year later. It may be a pain to write the secondaries but you'll save yourself a year of MD income.

 

[NotAnotherPreMed]

I applied to 22 and did 22 secondaries. I don't see the point of doing more primaries than secondaries, that just shows less foresight on your part in terms of how many secondaries you can complete in the appropriate time period. If I could do it again, I'd maybe apply 18-20 schools, none of the "safety" schools I applied to gave me an interview while some of the reach schools did.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

4,000 may seem crazy, but if you're one of those folks with borderline stats that has the cash to fund the apps it is likely a wise decision (assuming a well chosen list of schools).
Think of it this way: would you rather (1) spend 4,000 on one cycle and matriculate a year early or (2) spend 2,000 on two cycles (4k total) and matriculate a year later. It may be a pain to write the secondaries but you'll save yourself a year of MD income.

Yeah it's one thing if you can afford it. Not everyone has that kind of money that they can dedicate to the app cycle.

 

[efle]

The top schools are such a crap shoot - there are plenty of anecdotes about people getting into HMS after being rejected by every other top10.

Seconded. I met someone at an HMS type school that had zero other admits, period. I personally know a guy admitted to a private school ranked ~20 and nowhere else. I personally know another girl that ended up at a top 20 on full ride, that had only one other interview at that level. Mimelim likes to say otherwise but I am convinced much of the class at the hyper competitive schools had the stars align with their particular narrative, app reader, and interviewer(s).