Obviously, this is up to each person depending on their credentials how many schools they want to apply to. I have found 15 schools that I would be really happy at. Do you think this is too many or too little? Am I gambling by not applying to like 20? What is everyone else doing?
How many schools?
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anka24 said:
I applied to 17 last year. I think 15-17 is a great range to be at. I wouldn't recommend going over that. As long as you have a good range of school ranging from low to upper tiers, I think you are good to go. Best of luck.
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anka24 said:
I think 15 is enough if you choose the schools wisely. Good luck!
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You can also apply to more schools on the primary than on the secondary, and turn down interviews too if things otherwise seem like they're going well. At MSTPs in general, once you have an interview, you have a fairly good shot at getting in (seems to run the gamut from 1/10 to 1/2). Some schools might also flat out tell you either explicitly or implicitly at interviews that you're in. So if you like, you can cut down at every step to save time and money, while not gambling too much. But yeah, 10-15 sounds like a decent number to start with.
ClarinetGeek said:
Thanks. I originally started out with 20, but whittled my choices down to 15 because some of the schools didn't really have infectious disease programs (what I want to do) or only had one guy working on a related project. i still may add a couple of those back onto my list...we'll see.
P.S. Iowa is like my #3 choice!
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...interviewed at 4, and was accepted at 4 (one of which was Iowa!) In retrospect, this was probably a bit on the risky side. This was also a few years ago, it may be a bit easier or harder now.
I think 15 is plenty. No offense, but if you don't get in to 1/15, I really doubt you'd get in to 1/45 or whatever other number you'd apply to. I think MSTP admissions tend to be a little more predictable than straight MDs, as has been said before on this forum. If you have high GPA and MCAT and a great LOR from a research mentor, and lots of research experience, you will get interviews most places; then it's up to you to not be a tool 😉 This is different from straight MD--I think they are more likely to be looking for "that special someone" who has decent numbers but also that intangible special something which is difficult to predict (20,000 volunteer hours, grew up in poverty in Central America, Olympic Athlete, etc.)
Good luck!
I think 15 is plenty. No offense, but if you don't get in to 1/15, I really doubt you'd get in to 1/45 or whatever other number you'd apply to. I think MSTP admissions tend to be a little more predictable than straight MDs, as has been said before on this forum. If you have high GPA and MCAT and a great LOR from a research mentor, and lots of research experience, you will get interviews most places; then it's up to you to not be a tool 😉 This is different from straight MD--I think they are more likely to be looking for "that special someone" who has decent numbers but also that intangible special something which is difficult to predict (20,000 volunteer hours, grew up in poverty in Central America, Olympic Athlete, etc.)
Good luck!
haricot said:
Keep in mind that I am interested in not only ID, but ID epi, so I looked for programs that combined public health with benchwork:
case western
columbia
iowa
emory
maryland
ucsd
nyu
penn
uva
baylor
to name a few...
are there any not on this list that you're considering?
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anka24 said:
i don't think our research interests are quite the same, but have you looked at hopkins, yale, and harvard? they all seem to have programs that match what you're looking for.
haricot said:
yale and hopkins, most certainly. I looked at Harvard, but just couldn't get excited enough about it to apply. They seemed hardcore biological science and I want at least a peek into public health. Yale's program is awesome because they emphasize integration of the two fields (as does UNC).
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anka24 said:
Tufts, maybe? I'm a MPH student here (and MudPhud hopeful), and know that there is a decent amount of ID and ID Epi floating around here-- what their relative strengths are nationally, I'm not sure. Yet, another place to think of, I suppose
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I'm goin for 22. my grades and mcat are average, but i got 4 years of research. hopefully that will get me in somewhere. But I just wanna say this stuff is getting intense. I think i was lookin at the pitt website. compared to before 2000, the number of applicants for mstps has gone up by like 300%. whats up with that? why is going to school for another decade getting so popular?
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I'm shooting for 20, though I'm considering paring that down to 15 and then applying to some graduate programs separately. I figure this way, if all the schools decide I am not dual degree material, I will be left with a decent shot at medical school or graduate school. The only problem with that is I dont have a goddamn clue how to apply to graduate school.
Also, with the glut of bioscience PhD's and difficulties in getting funding, I wouldn't be suprised if some of the increase is due to persons interested in pure PhD's adding the MD in order to write more attractive grants.
Or, maybe the NIH is just doing a better job of promoting MSTPrograms than in the past.
Probably, more true than cynical - especially since GP/physician salaries are largely stagnant.Neuronix said:
Also, with the glut of bioscience PhD's and difficulties in getting funding, I wouldn't be suprised if some of the increase is due to persons interested in pure PhD's adding the MD in order to write more attractive grants.
Or, maybe the NIH is just doing a better job of promoting MSTPrograms than in the past.
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There are several constraints on which schools to apply to and how many to do so:
1. If this were the only school you were admitted to, would you want to attend the program? If yes, then the school makes the list.
2. How much time will you have to complete the secondary applications? Going through secondary applications can be a grueling process. You need to start now if you have not done so. A few schools make their secondaries openly available - make sure you start of them now. When does school start and what kind of classes will you be taking? Will you have time to complete the secondaries while fulfilling your other obligations.
I would apply to as many schools which fulfill constraint #1 for which you can finish the secondaries in a reasonable time. Otherwise, you are just wasting your money.
1. If this were the only school you were admitted to, would you want to attend the program? If yes, then the school makes the list.
2. How much time will you have to complete the secondary applications? Going through secondary applications can be a grueling process. You need to start now if you have not done so. A few schools make their secondaries openly available - make sure you start of them now. When does school start and what kind of classes will you be taking? Will you have time to complete the secondaries while fulfilling your other obligations.
I would apply to as many schools which fulfill constraint #1 for which you can finish the secondaries in a reasonable time. Otherwise, you are just wasting your money.
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hawkeey said:
Can't agree enough with this! I dropped a few schools after my primary upon further reflection of this.
hawkeey said:
Another reason I cut so many of mine was to actually look at the chances of getting in. Some places like Miami that were on my list only took 5 md/phd students last year (according to msar) and only one was out of state! Knocked that one right off! Tufts only took 4 last year. Good bye to that one too.
And secondly, I looked at the amount of research being done on what I was interested in. If they only had one guy with whom I'd want to work or a few that were only peripherally related, I knocked them off as well.
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