School Research

[strideline]

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Hi all,

New to SDN, lots of good stuff on here. My question is: What, in your opinion, is the best way to research individual medical schools? I am submitting soon- my application is good enough that most schools are in play, but not exceptional enough that I would consider myself a lock anywhere. I have about 20 schools on my list right now, and I am looking to cut it down to the best 10 for me to not waste time and money on secondaries, etc. I have used the MSAR, but it says nothing about aid packages or daily schedule and I'm not sure how much faith to put in the average indebtedness number, which is important to me.

 

[Arkaine]

Look through the school specific threads from this year or several years ago. They may have some more information from students about topics like financial aid or daily schedules. You can also look at the interview feedback section of SDN, where students may provide some general comments about a school and highlight some of these topics for you OP. Otherwise information about daily schedules isn't always accessible. You may be able to glean from a school's website that it is lecture-based, and students are in class from 8-12 every day with labs or clinical activities in the afternoons, but you won't be seeing a hour by hour account anywhere. Unless you are in contention for scholarships, just assume you will be receiving loans for the entire cost of attendance. AAMC then has a loan/interest calculator to give you a better idea of finances in the long run.

As an unwanted aside, I submitted my app around this time last year and was much less competitive at schools than I would of been had I submitted Day 1. While your stats may be able to fast-track your application, be prepared to wait and keep yourself busy until your secondaries and interview invites begin appearing. At this point it is also important to apply broadly, and while applying to 10 schools may be sufficient, you don't want to find yourself in the same position next year--reapplying, and shelling out another thousand dollars for your primary and secondaries.

 

[bigdogrob4284]

I definitely recommend looking at last years school specific threads as well. There often is lots of great info in there. Also, try looking at SDN's interview feedback pages. They often contain info about what people liked and didn't like about the school.

 

[strideline]

Thanks for the help guys, I didn't know about the interview feedback page, I will check that out.

The top reply has me worrying my application is later in the game than I thought; does anyone else think a late July submission is late? I had heard that anything before August was good.