When I went to H&R block with that exact question they said I could deduct all of it, including hotel, air fare, rental car, etc. The caveat being and I am not quite sure what it is called on the 1040 form, but the area where you input if you are single or married i.e if you file jointly you deduct a certain amount. For me I was married and I deducted 10k. My expenses for apps and travel was only 6k. So I took the 10k deduction instead. But if you are single, I thing the deduction is less and your expenses might exceed the amount you can deduct in which case I would deduct the higher amount. Another caveat, if you are single and in medschool, then I assume you have no job, which means you pay no taxes, which means you cannot deduct anything anyway. Hope this helped