How Many Schools Did You Apply To?

[HrryUpNwait]

Just a survey to try and find an average..

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[Siverhideo1985]

18

 

[ChubbyChaser]

Too many...like 33ish?

 

[Ariadne]

Just a survey to try and find an average..

I think there's a statistic from AMCAS out there that the average for applicants is about 13-14...

 

[HrryUpNwait]

I think there's a statistic from AMCAS out there that the average for applicants is about 13-14...

Yeah but I had this thing called an awakening and I don't trust AMCAS. Or the government.

 

[DrYoda]

14.

 

[Doc Henry]

1

 

[olemissbabydoc]

5

 

[WaterBird]

I fall in the "16 to 20" category. But I would have applied to fewer schools had I not been trying to end up in the same place as my SO.

So I don't think there is a perfect number - like anything else it will depend on your individual circumstances (strength of app, personal considerations, etc).

 

[airplanes]

Yeah but I had this thing called an awakening and I don't trust AMCAS. Or the government.

If anything the AMCAS number is higher than the actual number of schools people apply to because some end up submitting the primary to say, 20 schools and never filling out the secondary to 4 of them, meaning they essentially only applied to 16.

I applied to 14. (15, according to amcas though)

 

[dw2158]

If anything the AMCAS number is higher than the actual number of schools people apply to because some end up submitting the primary to say, 20 schools and never filling out the secondary to 4 of them, meaning they essentially only applied to 14.

I applied to 14. (15, according to amcas though)

yeah, no.

i'm planning to apply to 15-16. although as time passes, my confidence goes down and my number of schools goes up.

 

[BlueElmo]

I have 45 schools right now. I'm gonna cut down on them though in the next month.

 

[StIGMA]

yeah, no.

i'm planning to apply to 15-16. although as time passes, my confidence goes down and my number of schools goes up.

Completely anectodally, it is probably very common to apply on AMCAS to more schools than people will eventually submit secondaries. You complete 10, 15, 20 applications, get tired or begin getting interview invitations, realize this school was a bad idea or does not take people from your state, and realize you would rather keep your $100. Alternatively, you get a new MCAT score and decide to apply to less, decide that location matters more than at first, etc etc etc...

I submitted 22 on AMCAS and applied to 18 (all MD/PhD).

 

[dw2158]

Completely anectodally, it is probably very common to apply on AMCAS to more schools than people will eventually submit secondaries. You complete 10, 15, 20 applications, get tired or begin getting interview invitations, realize this school was a bad idea or does not take people from your state, and realize you would rather keep your $100. Alternatively, you get a new MCAT score and decide to apply to less, decide that location matters more than at first, etc etc etc...

I submitted 22 on AMCAS and applied to 18 (all MD/PhD).

i had no issues with the logic; it's the math that i was questioning. take another look at that post

 

[ChubbyChaser]

Also anecdotally, I submitted secondaries to all the schools I applied to that offered them...I think Indiana was the one that didnt.

 

[airplanes]

yeah, no.

i'm planning to apply to 15-16. although as time passes, my confidence goes down and my number of schools goes up.

I fail

 

[HrryUpNwait]

If anything the AMCAS number is higher than the actual number of schools people apply to because some end up submitting the primary to say, 20 schools and never filling out the secondary to 4 of them, meaning they essentially only applied to 16.

I applied to 14. (15, according to amcas though)

Relax- I trust AMCAS it was just a joke. Additional anecdote- I applied to 18 AMCAS and 18 secondaries were completed.

 

[orvos]

Applied to 28 primaries, filled out 26.

 

[Chuck's Right Foot]

33, 31 Secs.

 

[BlueElmo]

33, 31 Secs.

How many hours do you think you spent on those 31 secs, approximately?

 

[dw2158]

33, 31 Secs.

haha. secs.

am i too immature to apply to med school?

 

[Myuu]

Around 40 via primary. 27 with essay-driven secondaries. Probably about 5-10 more without novel essays.

 

[Chuck's Right Foot]

haha. secs.

am i too immature to apply to med school?

Total hours? I wouldn't even begin to guess. 80 hours? More?

 

[dw2158]

i actually snorted when i saw this. good jorb

 

[Shawnpremed]

I submitted 22 on AMCAS and applied to 18 (all MD/PhD).

I assume this means 22 primaries, but only submitted 18 secondaries?

In general is this difference accounted by unreceived secondaries by schools that possibly want to give rejections, and just exhaustion/not worth time filling out all those secondaries?

Thanks

 

[harrothere]

This may be a hijack, but do people ever start writing their SECONDARY essays before they even submit their AMCAS? It seems like lots of schools reuse the same secondary questions from year to year, so it might save time and help you turn in secondaries more promptly ?

 

[Myuu]

This may be a hijack, but do people ever start writing their SECONDARY essays before they even submit their AMCAS? It seems like lots of schools reuse the same secondary questions from year to year, so it might save time and help you turn in secondaries more promptly ?

Yeah, a lot of people do that, actually. A lot of different schools use more or less the same prompts too (with minor, but sometimes substantial tweaks).

 

[chad5871]

29 in the primary.

Ended up complete at 23 (rejected pre-secondary at 2 and withdrew pre-secondary from 4).

 

[aznb0y129]

25 for primary, 20 for secondaries.
​

 

[ztaw15]

I applied to 12 schools, and I definitely wish I had applied to LESS...I know some people might need to apply to more, but I was originally applying to 8 schools, and then got nervous and added four at the last minute, and they were really just drawn out of a hat. Mistake.

 

[BlueElmo]

Do you guys think 30-35 primaries for a Cali resident is overdoing it?

 

[WashMe]

I applied to 8, then added 3 more in December. Big mistake; no acceptances.

 

[Appless]

Do you guys think 30-35 primaries for a Cali resident is overdoing it?

Not for us cali handicapped residents. We dont have an in state school really like most states that will only take us and has lower stats. Since we have the schools everyone wants to be at...its just how it is. I rarely meet a cali applicant who has applied to less then 20, even those with very good stats. If you are sorta middle of the road 3.6/32 mcat, I think 30 is a good number. I mean unless money is an issue, Id rather apply to too many then have to wait another cycle. Unless you have the 40mcat and 3.8 gpa you never know whos going to take you and who wont so why not apply to as many as you can/ is neccesary. I have friends who have applied to 40+...though I think they are insane but w/e, I know im applying to about 33 schools as a cali resident and ive put just about every school who doesnt penalize OOS apps on my list (excluding crazy schools like hopkins, harvard, yale etc)

 

[majahops]

Without looking at the responses below (where somebody has undoubtedly already pointed this out), I'd like to just mention that responses from California applicants (like myself) will heavily skew the results of this poll - to the point where they are really not externally valid at all. You might try re-creating it, asking California applicants NOT to respond. Just constructive criticism from a fellow data-hungry lad.

 

[Bryson17]

7 last year. All MD/PhD. Mistake, not enough, but I didn't really want to do MD/PhD anywhere but at my home institution (long story).

~25 this year. All MD. Maybe too many. I don't want this cycle to be like the last one though.