In 2007 43,000 applied, 17,000 got in. That's a 42% acceptance rate.
So on the face of it it seems like you must come in at the top 35% or so of applicants to get accepted.
But then you realize that 43,000 applicants sent over 500,000 applications and there are only about 100 med scools in the country!
Look at the admissions stats:
Havard: 5500 applicants in 2007, 165 accepted, 3%
U of Minnesota Twin Cities: 3100 applicants, 187 accepted, 5.9%
U of M Duluth: 1300 applicants 58 accepted, 4.62%
U of Iowa, 148 accepted, (almost all Iowa residents)
So it seems like every med school in the country accepts 200 or less students each year, and each one gets 50-20 applicants/ available spot.
My basic background in stats tells me that this is bad news for everyone applying.
Because if you have a 10% or less chance, and each school is an independent event, then really, you can't count on applying to 10-15 schools and getting in anywhere.
Whats more, the state schools seem to give preference to residents of that state, (91% of Duluth students are from MN)
This means that your best shot of getting in is at your state's universities but if you don't then your odds get even longer everywhere else.
What's worse, every year more people apply to med school while the number of spots grows by a tiny amount, meaning that the acceptence rate will continue dropping. (1995 it was 25%, rose until 2002 when it hit 49% due to internet boom and everyone wanting to go into IT, now its dropping as people realize the financial stability of a medical career).
My father assures me that in a year and a half when I get several acceptance letters I will be laughing about this rabid fear, but it sure dosn't seem funny or hopeful at the time.
Any words of encouragement from those who have matriculated to those of us still on the other side of the fence?
So on the face of it it seems like you must come in at the top 35% or so of applicants to get accepted.
But then you realize that 43,000 applicants sent over 500,000 applications and there are only about 100 med scools in the country!
Look at the admissions stats:
Havard: 5500 applicants in 2007, 165 accepted, 3%
U of Minnesota Twin Cities: 3100 applicants, 187 accepted, 5.9%
U of M Duluth: 1300 applicants 58 accepted, 4.62%
U of Iowa, 148 accepted, (almost all Iowa residents)
So it seems like every med school in the country accepts 200 or less students each year, and each one gets 50-20 applicants/ available spot.
My basic background in stats tells me that this is bad news for everyone applying.
Because if you have a 10% or less chance, and each school is an independent event, then really, you can't count on applying to 10-15 schools and getting in anywhere.
Whats more, the state schools seem to give preference to residents of that state, (91% of Duluth students are from MN)
This means that your best shot of getting in is at your state's universities but if you don't then your odds get even longer everywhere else.
What's worse, every year more people apply to med school while the number of spots grows by a tiny amount, meaning that the acceptence rate will continue dropping. (1995 it was 25%, rose until 2002 when it hit 49% due to internet boom and everyone wanting to go into IT, now its dropping as people realize the financial stability of a medical career).
My father assures me that in a year and a half when I get several acceptance letters I will be laughing about this rabid fear, but it sure dosn't seem funny or hopeful at the time.
Any words of encouragement from those who have matriculated to those of us still on the other side of the fence?
People who apply smartly and have a solid and timely application for the schools they've applied to usually do get in.
