So how much does applying to med school cost? See inside.

[ManBroDude]

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Primaries: $705
Secondaries: $1070
Travel: $969
Speeding ticket in OR: $190
MCAT: $235
Prep: $56 net! ($550 for TBR/EK/AAMC FL's, recouped $494 by selling the bundle on ebay!)
Interfolio: $103
Deposit: $1000
Background check: $50
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Running total: $4298

 

[DrWily]

I have no idea how I am ever going to pay for this... it's not a matter of being willing. It's a matter of earning enough and still paying rent etc. Wow.

Two words: Street. Corner.

Or can it be one word? Gigolo.

Assuming you are a male.

 

[dntke1518]

Two words: Street. Corner.

Or can it be one word? Gigolo.

Assuming you are a male.

 

[Back 5]

I wanted to bump this thread to get perspective from this years contestants.

How many schools does the initial AACOMAS application fee get you? I see it's $32 for each additional school. Is the $175 for 1 school? Application to 20 schools will be $815? 😱

 

[abolt18]

Not sure what math your'e doing but it's 783... If you qualify for the fee waiver that will knock off $239 of it, bringing you down to $544.

In total, if I include the cost of my new suit and shoes I spent about $3500 total last cycle. This included taking my wife and baby to 2 of my interviews with me, and 2 other interviews solo.

 

[pre med 2014]

Tailor is how you spell the word when talking about clothing. Taylormade is a brand of golf equipment. http://www.taylormadegolf.com/

To be fair TaylorMade is a luxury golf brand.

 

[DoctorLacrosse]

To be fair TaylorMade is a luxury golf brand.

haha what in the world is a luxury golf brand? all golf equipment is in a similar price range when comparing top models, independent of manufacturer.

 

[BuddyTheElf]

To be fair TaylorMade is a luxury golf brand.

I don't think TaylorMade is a luxury golf brand at all (coming from an avid golfer). I don't dislike TaylorMade, but "luxury" does not belong there.

Back to the topic
Primaries: $815
Secondaries: $1022
Interfolio: $90
Postage: $6
Interviews (airfare, gas, hotels, food, rental cars): $1865
Suit & Acc: $180

Total: $3978

2 Deposits: $3000
Grand Total: $6978

Getting an acceptance letter: priceless

Edit: I did not include costs for the MCAT and prep course I took (add about $2000 to that total)

 

[Back 5]

Not sure what math your'e doing but it's 783... If you qualify for the fee waiver that will knock off $239 of it, bringing you down to $544.

In total, if I include the cost of my new suit and shoes I spent about $3500 total last cycle. This included taking my wife and baby to 2 of my interviews with me, and 2 other interviews solo.

Sorry. I was figuring $175 was the cost to submit to 1 school and $815 was the total if I added an additional 20 schools...so 21 total schools.

I won't quality for fee waiver, so I will need to pay the entire price.

 

[MuggleMeow]

You don't even want to know.

Primaries +secondaries+interviews+suits+MCAT+MCAT prep=10,000 or so

 

[BloodCaduceus]

Oh lordy, I remember crunching these numbers.

Not only did I apply once, I did it twice. Thousands of dollars, especially my second cycle when I had 5 interviews to go to.

However, it was all worth it when I got my acceptance call. I wouldn't trade that feeling for the world.

 

[coolingglasses]

A crapload. I don't even want to think about it, and I only attended two interviews.

 

[lalongo]

$550 - AACOMAS Primary
$600 - Secondaries
$80 - Interfolio
$1200 - Interview/Travel
$30 - Transcripts
$300 - MCAT
$500 - MCAT Study Materials
$2500 - Tuition to take last pre-req (O-Chem2 + flight)
$550 - Interview Suit (buy one get one free)
$250 - third party assessment of transcript (WES)
$200 - postage (international)
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$6760 - Total

That's only including everything I can think of right now at 4 in the morning

 

[GopherMD]

A crapload. I don't even want to think about it, and I only attended two interviews.

Haha same. Two application cycles, 7 interviews= -$$$$$$

 

[LiamNeesons]

7-10k, lost money working part time during MCAT prep.

 

[Lawgiver]

damn. i never thought id be willing to ***** myself out until now.

 

[IslandStyle808]

All I can say is you guys have it good on the mainland.

 

[futuredoc331]

You can easily take 2,000 off of most of these totals if you need to. The kids spending the most are the ones that it's not hurting. 1200 for clothing is ridiculous and I can't even fathom paying for a prep course once, let alone multiple classes with different companies.

The cost is still outrageous, but those who decide to be frugal can get away better than some of these numbers.

 

[petyr_baelish]

I have, like, a $1500 budget for med school apps. I'm so screwed. But I'll worry about funding interviews when they come. I think the first school that accepts me will "win."

 

[avivace]

I agree with Allen. Petyr, you might check out the assistance program, which helps with application and MCAT costs and secondary fees. I bought the cheapest suit I could find that fit and had the right styling (ie conservative), and I don't think it hurt my chances. Travel was what exploded my application costs, and that depends entirely on where you live and where you apply. I paid $500-$1000 per interview, and most of that was airfare. If you live east of the Rockies or in a city then I suspect travel wouldn't be that bad. The whole thing cost much more than I expected.

For anyone applying this year, you might want to double what you think it will cost and start working extra hours as soon as you can.

 

[AM508]

Yeah, air travel and hotel seemed to be the real killer for me. The closest airport to where I live is about an hour away and is relatively small and thus airfare out of there is quite expensive.

 

[MightBeACylon439]

Haha, nice one!

I definitely regret applying to as many schools as I did. I applied to about 13 DO schools..., sent in secondaries to 12.... got an interview from DMU/KCUMB, went to them, and got accepted. Cancelled all the rest. What a waste of time/money!!! 😡

Oh well, glad it's over now. 👍

I relate to this, though the thought process is akin to: "if only I had invested 2x in that company, I'd have made so much more money!"

Don't do it, you got in, life is good!!!

 

[PikminOC]

I kept some pretty good records of my med school application expenses and just wanted to share/compare with others so that people thinking about applying can visualize the expenses.

$512 - AMCAS Primary
$310 - AACOMAS Primary
$1,365 - Secondaries
$79 - Interfolio
$7.66 - Postage
$820.38 - Interview Travel (1 flight, 2 driving)
$30 - Transcripts
$230 - MCAT
$300 - MCAT Study Materials
$1,300 - Tuition to take last pre-req
$0.31 - Photos
$126.13 - Interview Suit
$2,500 - Seat Deposits*
----------------------------------

$7,560.48 - Total

*Sadly this total is only for two schools. As future DO students we should encourage our schools to adopt a policy similar to the MD schools with reasonable, refundable deposits and a choose/withdraw date. </soapbox>

Drop in the bucket compared to all the costs later on...