How much $$$ did you spend in the application process?

[Symphony101]

Counting primaries, secondaries, travel fees, etc.

Currently, I have $1500 that I can spend on med school applications. I'm working two jobs this summer so hopefully I'll save a bit more. I just want to gauge how much people have spent int the past.

Thanks!

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[alwaysaangel]

I hit about 4k easily. But if I could do it again I would have applied to fewer schools.

 

[Silence]

i spent at least $3k. a big chunk of that was in travel fees.

 

[chable]

Spent over 3K....estimated breakdown:

Pre-med committee letter and service: $30
Primary Application: $900
Secondary Applications: $1800
Envelopes, Stamps, ,Postcards, Paper, etc: ~$50 (rough estimation)
Travel (plane ride, hotel, food): $800
Suit, shirt, shoes and a tie: $650
Suit carrying bag: $100
Leather Portfolio: $20
Nintendo Wii (for distraction) + games: $500

 

[SeminoleFan3]

Too much.

$400 Primary
$900 Secondary
$100 Suit
$2000 (4 interviews: plane tickets, rental cars, food, hotels, gas)

 

[etf]

last time it was around $8k. this time, i'm going to try and keep it under 5.

 

[dbhvt]

Post a poll. 1500 isn't going to get you very far. Personally, it was around 4k, and really caused some financial problems for me. Hindsight tells me I should have gone to fewer interviews, but it's really tough to make that judgement at the outset.

 

[alwaysaangel]

Anyway, as you can tell, OP, to keep it under 1500 is going to be a stretch. So get a job or a credit card or something.

If you live in a state where in-staters have a good chance and you want to stay in state, then you can probably keep the costs down. But if you're planning to apply to more than, like 7 schools, you're going to need a lot more than $1500.

7 schools:

Primary: $250 (130+4x30)
Secondaries: ~$500 (7x~75 each)
Suit: $100 (if you do thrift store/super cheap stuff)
Already at $800 and you haven't done any interviews etc.
Interviews are the most variant, but for arguments sake lets say you get like 3/7 interviews. And you can drive to 1/3 and can stay with a student host at 1/3 (these are random numbers but seem pretty respresentative for how many schools offer hosts and how many applicants can drive to interviews).
Now you've got like $100 gas, $400 flights, $200 hotels, $50 for taxis/subways/buses. And interviews are going to run you about $750 more and thats a pretty conservative estimate.

So IF you only applied to a few schools and only went on a few interviews, yes it would be doable. But since most people don't have a 4.0 GPA, 40 MCAT and sparkling personality most people have to apply more broadly. Decide how confident you are in your application and decide how many schools you want to apply to. Then find a way to get enough money.

 

[Steiner]

I kept a running total in my MdApps profile. I'll stop counting when I walk in to class the first day.

 

[crimsonkid85]

...

I started typing out how much each thing cost, and then I got a huge headache because things cost so much/there were so many things to list :/ I was fortunate enough to not look too closely at how much things cost, but I do know that my parents weren't too thrilled about it!

 

[Mobius1985]

AMCAS $250
Secondaries 300
Kaplan 1000
MCAT 210
supplies 28 (postage, photos, fax, etc)
gas 45
dress clothes 260

Total $2193 (I applied to 5 schools)

 

[koennen]

Too much.

$400 Primary
$900 Secondary
$100 Suit
$2000 (4 interviews: plane tickets, rental cars, food, hotels, gas)

Whoa! You went all out on the suit! Where did you get it? K-Mart or the Goodwill Thrift Shop?

 

[alwaysaangel]

Whoa! You went all out on the suit! Where did you get it? K-Mart or the Goodwill Thrift Shop?

I'm a girl and mine cost $30 + $20 for shoes.

If you look you can find great deals.

 

[Symphony101]

Anyway, as you can tell, OP, to keep it under 1500 is going to be a stretch. So get a job or a credit card or something.

Yeesh, this doesn't look too good for me, then.

I start teaching for Kaplan soon, and they pay well. I also have a waitress job (yay tips!)...

Or MAYBE I'll just participate in this study where they experiment w/limb sensations! LOTS OF $$$ for human participants!

 

[Dr2Bee]

About $4-5K for this app cycle.

 

[badasshairday]

What the hell? You have to buy a suit? F that, I'm going in with a nice shirt, tie, black slacks, and black shoes. I am poor!

 

[emaj1n]

Probably around 2k, including the MCAT. I applied to only seven schools, four of which were in-state. I drove to all three of my interviews and only used a hotel for one.

 

[mediocriskid]

$7K which is pretty ridiculous. One of those self inflicting wounds that only gets worse. Now i'll be $200k in debt in 4 years.

 

[RokChalkJayhawk]

What the hell? You have to buy a suit? F that, I'm going in with a nice shirt, tie, black slacks, and black shoes. I am poor!

Awfully close to a suit.

 

[NYyanx28]

You can check out my mdapp's for the price breakdown, but I believe mine was slightly over $4,000. Granted I didn't fly to any of my interviews since they were regional. At most I stayed over in a hotel twice. So if you are applying to roughly 15 schools, get interviews at just under half and most are regional, expect to spend at the minimum $4,000.

 

[SeminoleFan3]

I'm a girl and mine cost $30 + $20 for shoes.

If you look you can find great deals.

Exactly. I'm female. I bought mine at Macy's during a sale. Hence, the $100.

 

[bretticus]

$2654, plus some odds and ends.

 

[nabs86]

I applied to 11 schools and spend about $2000 (but I didn't get very many interviews and stayed with friends/family when I travelled)

 

[natusss]

if money is really an issue you can always apply for AAMC financial aid. they will waive your application fee for 11 schools and decrease the MCAT cost to $90.
Good luck!