How many schools is good?

[arthur2647]

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How many schools should an average person apply to? Right now I'm thinking of about 3-4, is that fine? I'm a freshman right now but assuming I do well in the end, are 3-4 schools a good number? I'm thinking about NSU, AZCOM, and Western as of right now, and possibly PCOM. My top choice is NSU. Thanks.

 

[Bacchus]

I applied to too many schools: NYCOM, PCOM, VCOM, UMDNJ, CCOM, DMU, LECOM, and OUCOM not to mention allopathic schools. If you're a strong applicant I would suffice to say that 3-4 is enough. I never heard from NYCOM, OUCOM, or UMDNJ which is to be expected, I guess. But I consider myself going 5 for 5; that is I got 5 interviews, attended three, and was accepted to all three. See where your stats are in a few years and base it off of that.

 

[FutureCTDoc]

How many schools should an average person apply to? Right now I'm thinking of about 3-4, is that fine? I'm a freshman right now but assuming I do well in the end, are 3-4 schools a good number? I'm thinking about NSU, AZCOM, and Western as of right now, and possibly PCOM. My top choice is NSU. Thanks.

It depends on competitiveness, how are your grades so far? I would add LECOM-B, ATSU-SOMA, TU COM-NV and KCOM, as it looks like you chose schools mainly in the south. 3 to 4 highly competitive schools is not a good choice. I'd apply to 6-9 schools, 2-3 reach (i.e. schools with a 10-20% chance of admissions, 2-3 competitive (a 50-50 shot) and safeties (schools where you have a good chance of gaining admission). The reason being is that you may not gain entry on a purely numerical basis, it's a small number of schools and you're not applying allo as well.

 

[chet]

How many schools should an average person apply to? Right now I'm thinking of about 3-4, is that fine? I'm a freshman right now but assuming I do well in the end, are 3-4 schools a good number? I'm thinking about NSU, AZCOM, and Western as of right now, and possibly PCOM. My top choice is NSU. Thanks.

It seems really early for you to have a concrete list of schools down, hell by the time you graduate there could be several more schools opened up in areas you like. That said I would definitely apply to at least 10 schools. Even if you aren't too familiar with all 10, you end up learning much more about these schools during the year of application. I bet many people end up really liking a school that they applied to as just a "safe school", happened to me.

Another reason to apply to more than 3-4 schools is that your interviewers will see how many schools you've applied to. They wan't to know that you will do anything to be a doctor and applying broadly is one aspect of your motivation they consider. I've gained this insight directly from interviewers. Good luck.

 

[Bacchus]

It seems really early for you to have a concrete list of schools down, hell by the time you graduate there could be several more schools opened up in areas you like. That said I would definitely apply to at least 10 schools. Even if you aren't too familiar with all 10, you end up learning much more about these schools during the year of application. I bet many people end up really liking a school that they applied to as just a "safe school", happened to me.

Another reason to apply to more than 3-4 schools is that your interviewers will see how many schools you've applied to. They wan't to know that you will do anything to be a doctor and applying broadly is one aspect of your motivation they consider. I've gained this insight directly from interviewers. Good luck.

Proof that schools applied to is shown?

When schools ask you were you applied, they don't already know. If they did, why would they ask? ...It's not a test of honesty.

 

[FutureCTDoc]

Proof that schools applied to is shown?

Why would schools ask you where you applied if they knew? ...It's not a test of honesty.

Nova has it on their app I believe. I don't know why. Presumably to see if DO is a backup, so that they can choose students who are interested in osteopathic medicine.

 

[Bacchus]

Nova has it on their app I believe. I don't know why. Presumably to see if DO is a backup, so that they can choose students who are interested in osteopathic medicine.

There's a difference between disclosure and snooping.

 

[FutureCTDoc]

There's a difference between disclosure and snooping.

In the BS/DO, it came up in the interview. They asked where else did you apply.

 

[Bacchus]

Maybe my point came across wrong, I'll edit my original post. Look at it.

 

[csmittyB]

How many schools should an average person apply to? Right now I'm thinking of about 3-4, is that fine? I'm a freshman right now but assuming I do well in the end, are 3-4 schools a good number? I'm thinking about NSU, AZCOM, and Western as of right now, and possibly PCOM. My top choice is NSU. Thanks.

As you are a freshman, you shouldn't be worrying about this yet. With that said, I say apply to as many schools as you can afford. Better to apply to too many schools (which I did) than not enough. I second applying to Touro-NV (early and as a safety) b/c if you are accepted and send the deposit but get into a school you like better, NV state law requires its schools to refund all but $100 of your acceptance deposit.

 

[chet]

Proof that schools applied to is shown?

When schools ask you were you applied, they don't already know. If they did, why would they ask? ...It's not a test of honesty.

The schools don't know where you applied, they know how many you applied to. However allo schools can't see if you applied DO, and DO schools can't see if you applied allo.

 

[bioman2006]

.

 

[FutureCTDoc]

The difficulty with saying for the OP is he is a freshman. There are several years left to build up an academic record and he likely hasn't taken orgo or physics. Those can be game changers either way. Also if location or cost is an issue DO schools may be a poor fit. With a few exceptions most DO schools are private and the cost can be a significant factors. I would also apply for my state school as the cost is a lot less.

 

[ChiDO]

10-20 is always a good number if you are an average applicant.

 

[MLT2MT2DO]

OP: Instead of trying to be an average applicant bust your butt in college and be a stellar applicant than 3-4 schools should be more than enough.

 

[p30doc]

Nova has it on their app I believe. I don't know why. Presumably to see if DO is a backup, so that they can choose students who are interested in osteopathic medicine.

In my experience this was not the case. I listed every school i applied to which was like 40-50 allo programs, and how ever many osteo programs I applied to maybe 8? on Nova's app, it was never an issue. It was brought up in the interview as a transition to the why our school question. I was asked something like " Wow you applied to a lot of schools! Why would you pick Nova over all the others".

I would apply to as many schools as you would be ok attending, and to as many as you can bear to write checks to. The process is expensive, and can be a numbers game. In my case I only wanted to go through one cycle of applying and I was open to many schools.

 

[JaggerPlate]

During my NOVA interview, they brought up that I applied to too many schools, and we laughed about it and afterward, I essentially just said it was because I wanted to be a physician badly ... must have been alright, because I was accepted a few days later.


OP. This discussion is kind of irrelevant at this point in time. Figure out where your stats are at when it comes time, research what schools you would LIKE to attend, and apply. Remember it's expensive as hell though.

 

[ChiDO]

I remember that question on the NOVA app...what a pain in the ass. When I applied (it may have changed by now), but they wanted to know like school, primary app, 2ndary app, interview, result for each fricken school.

If I had know how long it was going to take me to fill that out, I would have never applied...haha!

 

[The Poet Sings]

I remember that question on the NOVA app...what a pain in the ass. When I applied (it may have changed by now), but they wanted to know like school, primary app, 2ndary app, interview, result for each fricken school.

If I had know how long it was going to take me to fill that out, I would have never applied...haha!

Yup, same format for this app cycle. And I applied to like 30something schools (more osteopathic than allopathic, maybe a 60/40 split) because I was fortunate enough to have the money to do so and I didn't want to risk having to reapply for not applying broadly enough to begin with. When I interviewed at Nova, it didn't come up that I applied to both. I don't think they read that part of my file because one interviewer asked me if I was applying to other DO programs, lol. Then he totally sold me on the school saying that NSU is great for their missions trips, since I showed a huge interest in that. I hope I get in! It truly is a great school, OP, and I can see why it's your top choice. I'm not picking a top choice until I have some acceptances in hand, because otherwise I'd be all disappointed.

 

[Melicopter]

I had a list of my favorite schools a couple of years out. I added one of the new schools to the list as time went on - the total was thirteen. I kept researching them and by application time there were five schools I thought I'd be happy with, and two that I thought were worth checking out (either in case the others didn't take me, or in case I unexpectedly loved them).

It is a numbers game to some extent. My stats were below the average for one (and yes, Mayo rejected me quickly 🙂), close to the average for another, and well above for the other five. Keep in mind, though, that there is a lot more to an application than numbers.

So far I have multiple acceptances, but I still would not have applied to fewer schools. Even with seven applications out there, it was insanely stressful. I thought many times I might not get in anywhere. Just for my peace of mind, I wanted to have that many.

 

[Igor4sugry]

I have gone through this process two years before and got in.

I suggest you apply to 14+ schools (MD & DO). There is a ton of competition right now and the number of applicants is only getting bigger. I think the last #s for DO schools was that for every 1 spot there were 3 applicants. Once you get your MCAT score and your GPA figure out how many safety schools you want to apply to vs reach schools.

Also, I cannot stress this enough; apply early, get all your stuff in by September at the latest.

Remember, you want to go through this process only once, and the extra $500-1000 in application costs will be justified if you get in.