typical acceptance rates

[Adcadet]

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I was talking with the director of Minnesota's MD/PhD program the other day, and he mentioned that they got nearly 4100 applications this year, up ~40%. If you figure that they typically enroll about 10 students, and perhaps accept twice that number to fill the class, that's less than a 0.5% acceptance rate.

Are other programs this competitive? I've always thought that the acceptane rate for most MD/PhD programs exceeds that of MD only programs, since a)MD/PhD people are rare, b)MD/PhD people tend to really have their stuff together, and c)the MD/PhD applicant pool naturally tends to weed out the less strong applicants who end up applying to the straight MD or PhD programs instead, leaving the strongest candidates to actually apply.

 

[MacGyver]

I find that 4100 number hard to believe.

Consider this: Harvard, Hopkins, Yale, UCSF, etc get only 500 applications on average for MSTP.

I find it hard to believe that Minnesota gets almost 7X the number of applications that those other schools get.

 

[mpp]

Perhaps you misunderstood him. Perhaps there were 4100 applicants to all MD/PhD programs. That seems reasonable (albeit still a bit high).

 

[surge]

I'm sure he was referring to the total number of MD applications, which of course include the MD/PhD applicants. I guarantee you they don't have 4100 MD/PhD applicants.
In other words, the other statements about the applicant pool you make in your post do indeed tend to be true.

 

[Adcadet]

Originally posted by surge
I'm sure he was referring to the total number of MD applications, which of course include the MD/PhD applicants. I guarantee you they don't have 4100 MD/PhD applicants.
In other words, the other statements about the applicant pool you make in your post do indeed tend to be true.

On two occasions he mentioned about 4100. But I don't see how he could mean MD+MD/PhD. Maybe I'll ask him....after I get the notification. Regardless, I was just happy to have gotten the interview.

 

[Naphtali]

I would guess 4100 refers to the MD only applicants. That number sounds about right for the school... schools on the east coast that take a lot of out of staters (like Jefferson and Drexel) usually get around 8000 apps. 4100 sounds right for a midwestern state school.

400 apps for 10 seats is probably a realistic number. Thus, you have roughly a 5% acceptance rate. Tough, but if you're determined, and have your act together, and apply widely, it's do-able. (Don't want to scare away the newbies!)

-Naphtali

 

[CaNEM]

Definitely the total number of MD applicants. Even 1/10th that - 410 apps would be too high for that specific program

Originally posted by Naphtali
400 apps for 10 seats is probably a realistic number. Thus, you have roughly a 5% acceptance rate.

-Naphtali

It's a little less daunting, also, when you consider that programs admit more people than spots they have available, knowing many students will go elsewhere.