Poll: How many MD/DO applications did you fully complete in the 2011-2012 cycle?

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Poll: How many MD/DO applications did you fully complete in the 2011-2012 cycle?

  • 1-5

    Votes: 21 9.2%

  • 6-10

    Votes: 18 7.9%

  • 11-15

    Votes: 50 21.9%

  • 16-20

    Votes: 46 20.2%

  • 21-25

    Votes: 30 13.2%

  • 26-30

    Votes: 28 12.3%

  • 31-40

    Votes: 22 9.6%

  • 41-50

    Votes: 8 3.5%

  • 50+

    Votes: 5 2.2%
  • Total voters
    228
  • Poll closed .
eHombre

eHombre

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According to AAMC, for the 2010-2011 entering class, U.S. medical schools received 580,304 applications from 42,742 applicants, an average of 14 per applicant.

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It occurs to me that the AAMC data probably refers to primary applications and not to completed secondary applications, so the average of fully completed applications is probably significantly lower than 14 for the general applicant pool. I don't know whether or not there's complete database of fully completed applications, and whether the AAMC report includes data from DO schools. Here's the reference:

https://www.aamc.org/download/153708/data/charts1982to2011.pdf

In any event, I am most curious about the number requested in the poll, since I'm not interested in the applications where people didn't send in secondaries.
 
2 people did 41-50 applications.... That sure is a buttload of secondary essays to do.
 
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Slack3r said:
Applied 39 MD, 1 DO. Ended up completing 30 MD, 1 DO.
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How stressful was that? Did you recycle a few essays after a while? How long did it take you to finish your last secondary?
 
.
 
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I applied to 1. I had ~20 secondaries pre-written so I would have/could have gone with 35+ if I needed to
 
serenade said:
2 people did 41-50 applications.... That sure is a buttload of secondary essays to do.
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hell yeah....

Slack3r said:
Applied 39 MD, 1 DO. Ended up completing 30 MD, 1 DO.
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beat u.

serenade said:
How stressful was that? Did you recycle a few essays after a while? How long did it take you to finish your last secondary?
Click to expand...

worst days of my life (not really).

I became a better writer from my 30+ secondaries so the last ones were enjoyable to write.
 
I can't believe the first question that pops into people's minds when someone applies to so many schools is wasn't it hard to write all of those secondaries. My question is HOW THE HELL DID YOU AFFORD THAT? I'm completely broke after 12 applications. It's actually one of the things that has pissed me off so much about the med school application process. I'm a non-trad and have been on my own for awhile, so my parents aren't giving me any money for this, but I don't get a fee waiver because they make too much money, so I've been eating Ramen for months to pay for 12 applications.
 
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serenade said:
2 people did 41-50 applications.... That sure is a buttload of secondary essays to do.
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It was. I strongly believe that they're the reason my laptop died mid application cycle.
 
gloeotrichia said:
I can't believe the first question that pops into people's minds when someone applies to so many schools is wasn't it hard to write all of those secondaries. My question is HOW THE HELL DID YOU AFFORD THAT? I'm completely broke after 12 applications. It's actually one of the things that has pissed me off so much about the med school application process. I'm a non-trad and have been on my own for awhile, so my parents aren't giving me any money for this, but I don't get a fee waiver because they make too much money, so I've been eating Ramen for months to pay for 12 applications.
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This!

I got married right after high school and we have been on our own financially since then. I only completed 2 applications, and it's a good thing I didn't do any more. I think the way they determine FAP is terrible. Doesn't make any sense to me at all to go off of the income of the parents, especially in the case of a non-trad.
 
Yeah, I found the socioeconomic barriers to entering the medical student game shocking, too.

Fortunately, I'm not somebody that had to worry overmuch about secondary fees - but I have absolutely no idea how a single full-time working person might accomplish volunteering, classes, MCAT, secondaries, travel and time off for interviews, clothing, etc.

All told, this application cycle will probably cost me around $5-6k.

I have massive, massive respect for the nontraditionals jumping into this thing from the workforce rather than college.
 
centrigeugle said:
Yeah, I found the socioeconomic barriers to entering the medical student game shocking, too.

Fortunately, I'm not somebody that had to worry overmuch about secondary fees - but I have absolutely no idea how a single full-time working person might accomplish volunteering, classes, MCAT, secondaries, travel and time off for interviews, clothing, etc.

All told, this application cycle will probably cost me around $5-6k.

I have massive, massive respect for the nontraditionals jumping into this thing from the workforce rather than college.
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...interviews alone cost me around $6K. How the heck did you keep costs so low? Flights alone are ~400-500...
 
I'm planning to apply to only ~10 give or take 3.
 
gloeotrichia said:
I can't believe the first question that pops into people's minds when someone applies to so many schools is wasn't it hard to write all of those secondaries. My question is HOW THE HELL DID YOU AFFORD THAT? I'm completely broke after 12 applications. It's actually one of the things that has pissed me off so much about the med school application process. I'm a non-trad and have been on my own for awhile, so my parents aren't giving me any money for this, but I don't get a fee waiver because they make too much money, so I've been eating Ramen for months to pay for 12 applications.
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fee waiver is a joyous thing. didn't pay for a single secondary.
 
mipp0 said:
...interviews alone cost me around $6K. How the heck did you keep costs so low? Flights alone are ~400-500...
Click to expand...

I managed to find ridiculous deals or have family in most of the cities I traveled to, so generally all I had to pay for was the flight itself.

That, and I got fewer interviews than I expected :thumbup:

Some invitations might still be yet to come, so I could easily pick up another few grand. If I were less fortunate, my costs could easily be double what they are. It's really kind of insane when you think about it.
 
I completed 15. There was only one for which I didn't complete the secondary, because it was just too long. and I wasn't that interested.
 
serenade said:
How stressful was that? Did you recycle a few essays after a while? How long did it take you to finish your last secondary?
Click to expand...

I was out of school, and working in the service industry, so it's not like I had anything better to do. Some of the best essays I wrote were towards the ends, and I did do a bit of recycling/tailoring for each school. I applied late to a few schools, but I had 90% of my secondaries done by late August/early September.

Interestingly enough, I was accepted to the school who's secondary I sent back first.
 
I know some people want to see their MCAT scores before they apply. But for those like me who don't mind taking their chances, it is certainly possible to apply early, take the MCAT, and then during that "glide month" while you wait for the scores to arrive you can fill in all the secondaries.

Of the 20 schools I applied to, only one pre-screened its secondary and wouldn't release it until after they saw how I had done.

Then on that magic day when the MCAT score is released, BOOM you are insta-complete at all your schools at once.
 
I applied to 23, completed 22. Just about all the schools I applied to are within driving distance ( < 6 hours) which helps keep down interview travel expenses. So far I've spent $3k.
 
Totally on board with you guys (and girls) about the high cost of applying. It is only a matter of time before you will have to fill out your FAFSA for application loans. :laugh:

P.S. Huge thanks to all of the student hosts out there.
 
You should add an option for those of us who haven't applied but are interested in the responses
 
I only applied to 5 schools and completed their secondary applications and it still took me forever to get everything complete. I don't know how you guys applied to so many schools. I don't think I could have written that many essays.

:) Accepted MD Class of 2016!!!
 
15 primary applications, 1 pre-secondary/pre-ii rejection (Vandy), 10 completed secondaries.

Thanks for making this. Does anyone know of any resource that publishes data on # of completed secondaries? As OP suggests, I believe MSAR only reports primary data, but this is more or less useless for people trying to gauge their chances, particularly at schools that do not screen. I think it would be fairly interesting to see if ambivalence and/or laziness is a factor in narrowing down the applicant pool.
 
BHaus9 said:
15 primary applications, 1 pre-secondary/pre-ii rejection (Vandy), 10 completed secondaries.

Thanks for making this. Does anyone know of any resource that publishes data on # of completed secondaries? As OP suggests, I believe MSAR only reports primary data, but this is more or less useless for people trying to gauge their chances, particularly at schools that do not screen. I think it would be fairly interesting to see if ambivalence and/or laziness is a factor in narrowing down the applicant pool.
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I'm sure it does, especially at places like Duke with horrific secondaries.
 
SoonerFromTexas said:
Totally on board with you guys (and girls) about the high cost of applying. It is only a matter of time before you will have to fill out your FAFSA for application loans. :laugh:

P.S. Huge thanks to all of the student hosts out there.
Click to expand...

Seriously! I've saved tons of money staying with student hosts.
 
gloeotrichia said:
I can't believe the first question that pops into people's minds when someone applies to so many schools is wasn't it hard to write all of those secondaries. My question is HOW THE HELL DID YOU AFFORD THAT? I'm completely broke after 12 applications. It's actually one of the things that has pissed me off so much about the med school application process. I'm a non-trad and have been on my own for awhile, so my parents aren't giving me any money for this, but I don't get a fee waiver because they make too much money, so I've been eating Ramen for months to pay for 12 applications.
Click to expand...

Yeah I know. I had to get an early start on accumulating student loan debt to pay for everything.
 
I did 29. Went a little overboard, I know. All due to the non-stellar GPA. The app process is expensive, but seriously... doing it all over again is much more expensive.
 
Interesting results so far. The mode is 11-15, and the median SDNer (after 181 voters) seems to have submitted a completed application to about 18 schools.

There is a heavy tail toward the upper numbers, which may reflect some underlying SDNer characteristic whose identification I'll leave to others. :)

I apologize for having put 31-35 and 36-40 in the same bin. The 31-40 category looks misleadingly large as a result, but clearly there were more people in this category than I expected. Kind of shocked there were any people at all in the 50+ category, though with a fee waiver I guess you'd only have the endless secondary apps to pound out. Anyway, thanks to everyone for the participation!
 
eHombre said:
Kind of shocked there were any people at all in the 50+ category, though with a fee waiver I guess you'd only have the endless secondary apps to pound out.
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I thought the waiver was only up to 14 apps
 
It is. You have to pay $33 for each school above 14, so those 50+ people were paying at least ~$1,200 for primaries, not to mention interviews.
 
eHombre said:
According to AAMC, for the 2010-2011 entering class, U.S. medical schools received 580,304 applications from 42,742 applicants, an average of 14 per applicant.
Click to expand...

fletchffletch said:
I thought the waiver was only up to 14 apps
Click to expand...

14 seems about right. Above that number the quality of your essays will suffer. I'm shocked with 50+ votes.
 
nadaba said:
I'm sure it does, especially at places like Duke with horrific secondaries.
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yeah, the secondary for Duke is such a weedout that they interview something like 1 out of every 5 completed applicants. However, from there the acceptance/interview ratio is more like 1:10, iirc...
 
r1d1 said:
14 seems about right. Above that number the quality of your essays will suffer. I'm shocked with 50+ votes.
Click to expand...

That's not necessarily true at all, especially for people who prewrite before the cycle even opens. Even LizzyM said she'd cap it out at 27. Beyond that, if you have the drive, time and money to get 50+ out (a lot of if's, to be sure), it's completely up to the applicant to make sure the essays are given the time they require.

From the people I know who are in the 50+ pool, they're reapplicants or have some sort of weakness in their application they're very nervous about. Fear is a great motivator and whoever up there said it's more expensive to reapply was right.
 
Only fully completed one and got accepted to one. That's all I was looking for.
 
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