I can't decide how many schools should I apply to?

[BMEEngineer]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I was planning to apply to about 7 schools (carefully selected based on my GPA, how I thought I would do on the DAT, percent accepted out of state, and then ranked based on how I liked their programs and cost). After taking the DAT, I did better than expected, and I'm not sure if it is still necessary for me to apply for so many. This is especially concerning because I am on a budget, and it is very difficult for me to get time off from my full time job (I will probably need to call in sick just to go to interviews). I know you can't tell everything by stats, but if you have any advice, I would greatly appreciate it.

PAT 22
QR 20
RC 24
Bio: 22
GC: 22
OC 24
TS: 23
AA: 22

My background: non-trad applicant 2 years out of school with Engineering degree working in biotech.

GPA: 3.62
Science GPA is probably somewhere around a 3.5 if most of my engineering classes count.

I will have about 40 hours of shadowing experience by the time I submit my application (which I intend to do as soon as possible after it opens).

 

[Hawkteeth]

I would stick with seven, you never know. Your stats look good, but you haven't done your shadowing yet? That may not look so great.

 

[EpicDentist]

7 sounds fine. Your stats are very good

 

[nikond600]

.

 

[BMEEngineer]

I would stick with seven, you never know. Your stats look good, but you haven't done your shadowing yet? That may not look so great.

So I have done about 32 hours of shadowing already, and I'm getting 8 more hours in before the application. Does that still look bad?

 

[KittySquared]

I don't know which 7 schools you're applying to but I would throw in 3 more schools so you're applying to 10 just to be safe. I'm also a non-trad applicant and I've known younger applicants with lower DAT scores/GPA than I have getting into certain schools I really wanted to go, like Louisville, and with far less extracurriculars. I've also seen individuals with 18s and 3.1 getting into my state school while I did much better and didn't even get an interview. Adcoms may see something in these applicants they don't see in me. Your grades are good, but I would play it safe and apply to 10 schools. It's not always about the numbers.

 

[Bottle]

Dude no ! Havent you seen the good stats people but no acceptance ? Because they applied late / few schools.
Id say apply to as much as your wallet can handle.

Paying more money is much better than waiting for next year.

 

[aznboi89x]

Dude no ! Havent you seen the good stats people but no acceptance ? Because they applied late / few schools.
Id say apply to as much as your wallet can handle.

Paying more money is much better than waiting for next year.

agreed.


i applied to 53 schools and got 12 interviewws


and it was worth it to me