number of applicants

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careerchanger

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anybody have an idea of how many applications sent to aacom yet? seems like allopathic applications way down, want to see if trend the same for osteopathic. know that law and mba applications way up.

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*Bump* I think this is a good question. I'm having trouble finding this info on my own via internet searches.

Thanks
 
Osteopathic applications usually follow the allopathic applications, so if the number of MD applicants in this country drops then the DO applicant pool will also shrink. Take a look at the trends of the past four years in which we've had a steady decline, according to the AAMC. AACOM publishes a facts and figures type of book on DO applicants, and you can find much of this information there.
 
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If you look at the statistical report of the AACOM
http://www.aacom.org/education/ASR2000.pdf

on page 15 it plots the applications for the last 10 years and projects a 8.7% decrease in applicants from 2000 to 2001 (of course that's only a projection, but it's based on # MCAT takers in the previous year which they say has a strong correlation, unsurprisingly).

However, although you might find this heartening you might also like to look at their graph on page 18 where the average MCAT and GPA are reported. Despite decreasing #'s of applicants (page 15) and increasing #s of schools and positions (page 11), the graphs on page 18 indicate that there is a systematic increase over the years in the average GPA and MCAT of 'Entering Students'...which means to me, the competition may be getting smaller...but it's also getting tougher :(

Not that I'm trying to depress anyone...good luck!

:)

onwis
 
I guess my problem is that I own a funky computer. I have trouble accessing .pdf files, so I'm kinda s$%t-up-creek if you know what I mean. I wish I could view the AACOM pages, but can't. I figured that applications would be down this year. That doesn't surprise me. Also, it doesn't surprise me when you say that GPAs and MCATs are going up! Needless to say, I'm not going to sweat the numbers because getting in is more than just that. I'm more interested in trends and ratios. If the applicant to enrollee ratio is 1 to 2, that would make me feel better about my chances, despite my numbers. Indeed, it is comforting to know that applications are on the downswing.
 
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