What does applicants in MSAR refer too?

[10yearmedic]

I am just curious if anyone knows if the number of applicants in the MSAR refers to the number that submitted primary or secondary apps. It probably doesn't matter but I have a little OCD and want to know every detail in order to obsess about my chances of getting to a particular school.

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[theunderdog]

I am just curious if anyone knows if the number of applicants in the MSAR refers to the number that submitted primary or secondary apps. It probably doesn't matter but I have a little OCD and want to know every detail in order to obsess about my chances of getting to a particular school.

i am confident in my answer, so i know i am right.

the number of applicants is the number who submitted primary AMCAS apps. of course, this number is significantly trimmed down when it gets to the interview section. after the primary, some schools may screen for the secondaries and applicants may just decide to pull out or choose not to do the secondary... or in other cases, some applicants' files aren't completed (i.e. missing LORs) but the applicant doesnt know it....

take for example.. i believe GW gets over 8000 applicants. MSAR confirms that. i believe about 1000 or so get interviewed. but realistically, only about 4000 - 5000 actually get completed all the way through to the finished secondary... so you are really choosing 1000 students for interview out of 4000-5000, and not the 8000.

i hope that helps.

of course, every school is different and may not have that steep of a drop from primary to secondary app. tufts gets about 6500 primary apps, but only about 4500 actually complete the process. georgetown is very similar to george washinton in terms of numbers as shown above.