How many skools is too many?

[Pinki]

Heya gang! Just saw on another post where Scooby wished he had NOT applied to so many schools.
I have my MSAR dog-eared on about 20 schools - is that too many? They're all respectable programs in cool cities I'd like to call home, for another 4 years at least.

I'm an older, non traditional (but still a fun, drinkin cool cat!)student and want to "sew" my application oats as best as I can, i.e. get in! Decent stats, double humanities major, 3.5 undergraduate GPA and now a 4.0 in my post bacc sciences. Volunteer, interesting ECs, former job was a TV reporter, medical beat. Took the MCAT yesterday... I guess I'm just unsure if I'll be blowing my savings by sending out 20 apps, or if I'll be thwarting my chances by just limiting it to the top 8 schools. Truth is, I'd be happy at any of them, I suppose.

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[UCMonkey]

If you want to maximize your chances of getting in, go ahead and apply to all 20 that you like. This goes double (possibly triple) if you are from a state like CA or FL where it is notoriously difficult to get in.

So... 20 schools is NOT too many at all. Yeah, it can get expensive, but do you want to pay now and have a better chance of getting in, or run a higher risk of having to reapply next year?

 

[vyc]

range is more important than quantity.
20 is 9 less than i did, so i think that's a decent amount.

the national average is 15.
if you're a CA resident, the average # of schools applied to, is 25.

 

[oldman]

i applied to 26 schools. it was a lot of work to get it done, but now i'm going to med school!

only apply to schools you think you would be happy to go to, not just to schools you think you have a shot at.

 

[SMW]

20 is not too many. 8 is definitely too few, especially seeing as you don't know your scores yet (yes you'll be blowing your savings, but the end result is worth it) I applied to 23, got 13 interviews (didn't go to 1), got into 5, waitlisted at 3, 9 pre-interview rejections, 1 post-interview rejection (thus far - still waiting to hear from 3). The pattern of my acceptances and rejections seemed entirely random. The whole thing is such a crapshoot, I think your plan to apply to 20 is wise.

 

[Resident Alien]

I guess i was lucky applying to 10 schools then. Then again im not a CA resident.

 

[Doctora Foxy]

It all depends on your state of residence. I would go ahead and apply to 20 schools if you want to. I applied for 22 secondaries and sent back 18...sometimes I wish I had sent in those others. Scoob has very high numbers among other things, so he didn't need to apply to that many schools. Just remember to apply to a wide range! Very important! This process is a crapshoot, and probablility will be in your favor if you apply to a lot of schools. If you apply to 20 now, you may not send back all of those secondaries later anyway, so it will all even out.

I would say 59 is too many (b/c Lady in Red is cool w/ 58 :wink: )

 

[Mr. H]

yeah, I think I'm gonna do around 15, As an IL resident, I have the fortune of having many great schools to choose from,and get int o1!

 

[Scooby Doo]

Yea..please post what state you are in.

If you are in Cali, tack on another 7 schools and spread out your list.

The main reason I wish I had not applied to so many is b/c of the plane flights for interviews. Those things killed me, any money I had, and my job

 

[medicine2006]

I used to think that appyling to to many schools was a bad idea. The first ti,e I applied to medical school in 2000 I did 19 schools. Got rejected by all 19. Well I improved myslef by doing a 2-year masters program in Philly. This time I applied to 25 schools but originally thought I only wanted to do 20.

WELL I AM GLAD I APPLIED TO 25 BECAUSE THE SCHOOLS THAT WERE NUMBER 22 AND 23 ON MY LIST WERE THE ONLY ONES I GOT ACCEPTED TO. THE MORAL OF MY STORY IS THAT IF I ONLY APPLIED TO MY ORIGINAL 20 I WOULD NOT BE STARTING MEDICAL SCHOOL IN AUGUST.

 

[Pinki]

Scooby,
My situation is all funkified, state wise. I live in Arizona, but am not particularly keen on going to Tucson for four years, too bad since the odds are in my favor for U of A. My family lives back in Ohio, Texas and Louisiana, so I'd like to go closer to them, but, then again, I've always wanted to live in SF and Boston, so I've looked at schools there, too. I'll probably go ahead and add another 5 to my list - I'm not too big into research schools, more into primary care. Hate to be such a cliche...
FD