When applying to med school, did you buy an MSAR?

[Rafa]

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...?

 

[LadyWolverine]

Hell no.

 

[jbing]

.

 

[top]

when I applied I didn't know what an MSAR (or, for that matter, SDN or mdapps) was. I didn't find out until my third to last interview when there was a copy of it on the table in the waiting area, and one of my fellow interviewees exclaimed, "look! it's the BIBLE!" When I replied that that was in fact NOT the bible, she laughed and told me. It seemed pretty cool, but I don't think it would have been that useful to me. SDN and mdapps, on the other hand, I wish I had known about these for years. 🙁

 

[tacrum43]

I don't understand what the big debate about this is. Buy a copy of the MSAR. It is the official, and most useful book out there for getting into med school (hence it being called "Medical School Admission Requirements"). And, it's $25 freaking dollars! Most people spend several grand between secondary fees and interview expenses, not to mention tuition once you get there. The phrase "drop in the bucket" seems very applicable here.

 

[Depakote]

I don't understand what the big debate about this is. Buy a copy of the MSAR. It is the official, and most useful book out there for getting into med school (hence it being called "Medical School Admission Requirements"). And, it's $25 freaking dollars! Most people spend several grand between secondary fees and interview expenses, not to mention tuition once you get there. The phrase "drop in the bucket" seems very applicable here.

I would have bought one except it comes out in May and I wanted to pick my schools before then, so I bought a few non-MSAR med school guides and read those.

 

[Vox Animo]

I never new it existed. Sounds like one of those things my advisor should have brought up....

that $25 probably could have saved me a few thousand in application fees.

o well, i got in.

sa la vi

 

[tacrum43]

I would have bought one except it comes out in May and I wanted to pick my schools before then, so I bought a few non-MSAR med school guides and read those.

It comes out in April. And why would you want to already have your schools picked out?

Well whatever. I loved your Dr. Zoidberg in the other thread, BTW. 👍

 

[Rafa]

It comes out in April. And why would you want to already have your schools picked out?

Technically, it comes out in May. But wouldn't you want to have thought about which schools you'd like to apply to more than ~1 week before the AMCAS app comes online?

 

[JustBreathe]

I wish I'd known about it too. I pretty much randomly chose my schools, with a tiny bit of input from SDN and my advisor. Oh well, it worked out, right? But to those who haven't applied yet - BUY IT.

 

[Depakote]

It comes out in April. And why would you want to already have your schools picked out?

Well whatever. I loved your Dr. Zoidberg in the other thread, BTW. 👍

meh, the first round was almost 2 years ago, not 100% about the dates.

And yeah, I'm starting to associate with Zoidberg more and more lately...

EDIT: added a pic for effect

 

[tacrum43]

Technically, it comes out in May. But wouldn't you want to have thought about which schools you'd like to apply to more than ~1 week before the AMCAS app comes online?

Well it came out in April last year. At least, I'm pretty sure. Eh, it doesn't really matter.

 

[badlydrawnvik]

hadn't even heard of it until well into the interview season.

 

[zero2hero]

MSAR = Bible of application process

 

[Rafa]

Hmm...

 

[happydays]

In two years, I'm going to buy the version with my classes' data!

 

[Elastase]

Please buy an MSAR, its well worth it! I have used it at least a hundred times for different parts of the med school application process.

 

[gary5]

Ya, I bought one. A complete waste of money. I looked at it maybe once or twice, just for a minute or two. I can't even find it now. I probably used it as a door jam or just tossed it. Either use the library's or buy the absolute cheapest used one you can find online. It doesn't need to be that current.

 

[lorelei]

I lived next door to a library when I was applying, so I just went over there and looked at it when I needed to know something. I only did that a handful of times though; I'm not sure what all you would do with it.

Oh, I also had some guide to medical schools put out by a different company, handed down by a friend who applied to med school two years before I did. So I guess I did use that some.

I definitely should have put more thought into which schools to apply to, but I didn't find the MSAR very helpful as far as that went. Oh look, there's 50 schools with similar MCAT and GPA averages. Which one should I apply to?

 

[Thundrstorm]

Yes, it's the major way I picked schools. Went to the states I was interested in, made a list of the schools in major cities in those states, then read the actual descriptions to cut the list down. It's also a reliable source of avg. MCAT and GPA, which is helpful. I went to the bookstore and flipped through other me dschool guides for further data, but the MSAR had the most accurate info, so I found it useful.

 

[BooMed]

I was only applying to one school so...

But in normal circumstances it seems like a good thing to have. You could share with your other premed friendies.

 

[Orthodoc40]

I bought one when I started taking pre-reqs, so I just used that. It was 2-3 years old but still relevant enough.

 

[Flopotomist]

I am really shocked by the results of this poll!! How on EARTH can you pick schools without the MSAR?? You might end up wasting money on schools that don't accept oos'ers (man, that looks like a typo for loosers), you might not even know about a certain school, you might be applying to too many reaches, or not enough reaches.

Geesh - the entire process of applying approaches $10K for many of us - why NOT spend $25 more?

 

[DrLalich]

How on EARTH can you pick schools without the MSAR?? You might end up wasting money on schools that don't accept oos'ers (man, that looks like a typo for loosers), you might not even know about a certain school, you might be applying to too many reaches, or not enough reaches.

Agreed. A medical school applicant without an MSAR is like a turkey without stuffing. Besides, the 2006-2007 edition was a pretty orange color. Suck it up and buy the smurfin book. You wouldn't travel cross-country without a map, would you?

-DrL

P.S. I am not very good with analogies.

 

[SuzieQ3417]

Yes, it's the major way I picked schools. Went to the states I was interested in, made a list of the schools in major cities in those states, then read the actual descriptions to cut the list down. It's also a reliable source of avg. MCAT and GPA, which is helpful. I went to the bookstore and flipped through other me dschool guides for further data, but the MSAR had the most accurate info, so I found it useful.

Me too...I can't imagine going through this process without it. I ended up buying the previous application year's MSAR (unknowingly) but it worked out alright. Even after I finished the AMCAS I would still open it up to read descriptions again of schools where I was interviewing...particularly how many people they accept post-interview, what their deadlines are, etc. Well worth the $25 if you have the money. If not, most school libraries or pre-med advising offices have a copy that you can look at.

 

[MollyMalone]

I really wish they had an online version of the MSAR you could subscribe to for a year, rather than have to print so many paper copies of information that changes regularly.

 

[Risa]

I'd heard of the MSAR when I started this process, but never got around to looking at one and I survived ok...

Picking schools, I used this list of AAMC medical schools. I knew I wanted to stay more or less on the East Coast, and just went through the schools' websites in places I was considering, so I could gauge which schools jived with what I was looking for in a variety of ways.

 

[theblastopore]

I bought one, but I thought that was unneccessary. The thing that I found most useful is to find out the schools with average stats of acceptance similar to mine or lower so I can apply. I live in Texas and prefer to attend Texas school (for financial reason). So I ended up apply to all Texas schools anyway. I also apply to a few other schools that sent me invitation to apply (because I got the FAP from AMCAS = 10 free primary applications).

Anyway, I think if you could borrow one from the health profession advisor or your friend, then it won't be necessary to buy one

 

[karirunner]

Instead of spending $25, I made a short list of schools to which I wanted to apply and then photocopied the relevant pages at the library, stuck them in a binder with tabs for each school, and then put all correspondence with the schools/2ndarys/etc with them. Yay anal-retentiveness (and making up new words)!

 

[gujuDoc]

Technically, it comes out in May. But wouldn't you want to have thought about which schools you'd like to apply to more than ~1 week before the AMCAS app comes online?

The new one comes out in May but you could always look at the old one in the meanwhile. I know at my school, they have copies of the one from 2005 cycle sitting in the medical library, main library, and advisors office.

 

[QofQuimica]

I really wish they had an online version of the MSAR you could subscribe to for a year, rather than have to print so many paper copies of information that changes regularly.

That's a good idea. They could also have links to the schools' webpages instead of just listing the addresses in the book, which would make the whole thing much more user-friendly. Of course, this is the AAMC we're talking about here, so they'd probably make it impossible to print any of the school spreads.

 

[gujuDoc]

BTW:

If you don't buy an MSAR or obtain one by other means, another way to find info is to look on individual school websites and through SDN or through Princeton Review guide to medical schools.

However, I find the MSAR to be more accurate and the newest one (we bought it for AED library) had even listed the percent of people doing certain kinds of activities as well as both the averages as well as how it compared to national averages in terms of numbers.

It was pretty informative, but not absolutely necessary. Nonetheless, it does help you save money in terms of preventing you from applying to schools you have 0 chance at such as those that don't accept OOS at all.

 

[Rafa]

BTW:

If you don't buy an MSAR or obtain one by other means, another way to find info is to look on individual school websites and through SDN or through Princeton Review guide to medical schools.

However, I find the MSAR to be more accurate and the newest one (we bought it for AED library) had even listed the percent of people doing certain kinds of activities as well as both the averages as well as how it compared to national averages in terms of numbers.

It was pretty informative, but not absolutely necessary. Nonetheless, it does help you save money in terms of preventing you from applying to schools you have 0 chance at such as those that don't accept OOS at all.

Thanks - I'm definitely trying to do website research between now and app. time. The MSAR seems to have a lot of information concisely arranged inside it though, which is what makes it so tempting, although I've sort of determined most of the schools I'll be applying to (pretty firm on ~6 out of 10 or so). Arr. I do agree that some sort of online version would be so much more efficient. That way it could even be updated monthly, instead of once each May.

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

USNews gives great stats too...percentages of out of staters accepted, average gpa, ave MCAT per section, etc. Is there something the MSAR does that USNews does't?

 

[oldman]

they usually have a copy in libraries, even a local one.

 

[Gentle]

It's a great book. I gotta say. It contains stats and very important aspects about schools; those things that a school really prides itself about. When you mention some of those aspects at your interview, your interviewer feels like you've done your research about that school.

No regrets at all for buying it & would advice any applicant to get one...

-Gentle- 🙂

 

[gujuDoc]

USNews gives great stats too...percentages of out of staters accepted, average gpa, ave MCAT per section, etc. Is there something the MSAR does that USNews does't?

USNews only covers about 62 of the medical schools. There are 125+ schools, so it doesn't do any good for the unranked schools.

That's what is probably missing.

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

USNews only covers about 62 of the medical schools. There are 125+ schools, so it doesn't do any good for the unranked schools.

That's what is probably missing.

It doesn't rank all of them but has stats for almost all of them, even a handful of osteopathic ones. And when I say almost I mean 1 or 2.

Still, if anyone has experience with both usnews and the msar let me know if the msar has anything special to be desired. don't wanna miss out..