How much did you spend applying to med school

[jcfly21]

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Hi,
Just curious to as how much you all spent total on test, application fees, mailing, travel.......etc. Thanks guys

 

[tinkerbelle]

MCAT Prep Course ~ $1000 (i don't remember exactly)
Application Fees ~ $2500
Travel costs (for 10 interviews) ~ $3000
Interview shoes/travel stuff ~ $200
Suit ~ $0 ( i already had one)

Estimate: $6700

 

[kenmc3]

MCAT Prep Course - Kaplan - $1300
MCAT Test - $200
Applications (18 Schools) - $1980
Suit - $200

Estimate - $3480

I had multiple interview offers but I only interviewed at one. It was so early in the year and I was accepted, I turned down the others. The interview I went to was within driving distance and I stayed at a friend’s house so the cost was basically $0.

Applying to med school is not cheap, however compared to the $30k a year I will be paying in tuition, it doesn’t seem so bad. I think it is important to do well on the MCAT and apply to a wide range (good schools + backup). This way you don’t have to re-apply the next year and have to pay all this money again. The interviews are the expensive part, which was the main reason why I withdrew from most of them. Once I got into a program I wanted to go to – I didn’t want to waste money traveling to other schools.

 

[synapse lapse]

I got off cheap:

MCAT Prep - Self Study Examkrackers books $120, Audio Osmosis $Free from friend, AAMC practice tests $10 on ebay, Kaplan practice tests $free from friend. I got FAP (fee assistance) from AMCAS so it cost me $210 to apply to 17 schools on AMCAS (all secondary fees waived) and another $200 to apply to 7 texas schools including secondaries. I drove to some texas interviews and flew to others, ended up cancelling out of state interviews when in at UTSW, ended up spending about $200 on travel/accomodation. Already had a suit. FAP and no prep course combined with living in Texas = the best option in the world!

Total: $740 for 23 schools + 3 Interview trips (cancelled 2 interviews)
Getting in: Priceless 🙂

 

[sparky5]

*I did the do it yourself route, got the Princeton Review MCAT book, all the AMCAS review exams and full answers ~$150.
*Applications to 20 schools ~$2000 (I didn't really keep track, but about $100 each was my memory)
*2 trips to the east coast (for 4 total interviews) ~$600
I already owned interview attire, so that was $0

luckily I stayed with family and friends in Philly and NYC, so that made things cheaper, in the end I probably spent a total of $3000.

(plus $3000 lost wages from working 1/2 time so i could study for the MCAT) But, that is nothing compared to the >50k in loans I get to take out each year now that I am in school!!! Good luck!!

 

[fantasty]

My total expenses were ~ $8000, but that includes moving cross country ($1500 for Uhaul). I applied to >20 schools, interviewed at 6 (one trip was ~ $1000 because I did a 3 point trip from Orlando (conference) to New Orleans then to Chicago, the others were all driving and hotels).

 

[sdn@mailinator]

Here's my breakdown, including postbacc costs:

$12600: tuition, fees, books for postbacc (over 9 months)
$1020: AMCAS app fee (for 30 schools)
$2255: Secondary app fees (for about 30 schools)
$700: application consultant (a bargain, I got great help here)
$1500: MCAT app fees + Kaplan course
$300: Transcript fees, recommendation fees
$400: Lodging + meals for four trips (I used frequent flier miles)

$19000: approximate total, including incidentals, gas, etc.

The suit I needed anyway, so I don't count that as part of the cost.

I'm posting this to give an idea of what you could be spending, not what you have to. The strategies outlined in this thread are great for cutting down on prep costs.

Yes, it was worth it.

 

[Code Brown]

~$9000.

 

[CanIMakeIt]

~ $6700

 

[Drugtech]

Wow, I thought I had it bad. I spent upwards of $2100. I guess I could say I technically spent $4100 if I include my matriculation deposit. But what's $4100 in the grand scheme of things? Merely a drop in the bucket of the $200,000 it'll cost for med school. *Sigh* the price for living the dream!

 

[KNightInBlue]

Wow, I thought I had it bad. I spent upwards of $2100. I guess I could say I technically spent $4100 if I include my matriculation deposit. But what's $4100 in the grand scheme of things? Merely a drop in the bucket of the $200,000 it'll cost for med school. *Sigh* the price for living the dream!

Your matriculation deposit was $2000?

 

[AStudent]

It cost me this much:

$ http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=179569

 

[A.D.O.R.]

Quick question: Is it safe to say that hotel costs were an unnecessary evil? In other words, if you knew people in all your interview cities or had a student host for every interview, you would have saved a mint?

 

[heldicus]

These big numbers are shocking to me, but perhaps I'm atypical.

Bought the Kaplan MCAT book (used it for like half a second): $60
Took two full length practice tests offered by my school: $10 total
AMCAS fee: like $150? I forget what that costs
Secondary to UC: $25

That was it. Guess I took the easy route!

 

[zeloc]

MCAT: $100? I forget how much it cost
AAMC tests: $80
MCAT prep: used library books
Application fees: $75
AMCAS: $140?

Total: Under $400

 

[C8H10N4O2Junkie]

It sounds like I didn't get off too bad...

MCAT prep. materials (Thank goodness for EBAY): 120
MCAT: 180
AACOMAS: 240 (Applied to 4 schools.)
Secondary Apps.: 160 (Applied to 3 schools. Narrowed it down by 1, lol.)
Interview Attire: 40
Interviews and Travel Expenses: 55 (Split these with a friend and
interviewed at 2 schools in one trip. Accepted at both places, so
declined a third interview. That also helped cut down on costs.)

Grand total: Approx. $795.00

And even more recently, a whopping $2000.00 in deposits directly to the school! 😱

 

[Drugtech]

Your matriculation deposit was $2000?

Sadly yes, BUT that goes toward first year tuition.