2018-2019 Official Medical School Application Costs

[MedSchoolAppCosts]

Hi! I’m planning on applying to med school this cycle and wanted to gauge how much people ended up spending in total. I’ve seen there are some threads for previous years as well as a cost estimator made by SDN (Medical School Application Cost Calculator by SDN), but I was hoping to get some insight into what people actually spent, especially on interviews.

If you are willing, I would really appreciate you sharing what you spent on each category below. Thank you so much in advance and I hope this cycle was successful for you!

1. AMCAS primary application or how many schools you applied to
2. Transcript fees, committee letter fees, etc.
3. Secondary application fees
4. MCAT registration and prep
5. CASPer registration and prep
6. Interviews
   • Flights
   • Hotel
   • Ubers/taxis/lyfts/public transit
   • Food
   • Attire (suit, shoes, portfolio, etc.)
7. Deposits to hold your place at a school(s)
8. Any additional expenses not listed above

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[puahate]

Did you guys buy more than one suit? I have one suit but I am thinking of buying another one to rotate so I don't wear down one.

 

[owlsandturtles]

Testing - $1,500
MCAT course + books + reg: ~$1,400
CASPer fees: $100

Applications - $5,693
Primaries (43): $1,808
Secondaries (37): $3,525
Transcript fees: $10
Deposits: $350

Interviews (6) - $2,176
Interview outfit (suit, shoes): $180
Flights (used miles for some of them): $1,013
Transportation: $475
Food: $0, Packed or didn't eat (I mostly flew out same day so the interview breakfast/lunch was enough)
Hotel (for 4/6 interviews): $508

Final total: $9,369

 

[acciobutterbeer]

1. AMCAS primary application or how many schools you applied to: $1067 (24 schools)
2. Transcript fees, committee letter fees, etc.: $15
3. Secondary application fees: ~$2300
4. MCAT registration and prep: $435 ($315 registration and $120 for a set of books I never opened )
5. CASPer registration and prep: $90 (sent to 8 schools, no prep)
6. Interviews
   • Flights: $1200 (five flights)
   • Hotel: $120
   • Ubers/taxis/lyfts/public transit: $300
   • Food: $200
   • Attire (suit, shoes, portfolio, etc.): $600 (I bought a couple of suits/pairs of nice shoes while I had extra income)
7. Deposits to hold your place at a school(s): $100
8. Any additional expenses not listed above

Final total: $6427

 

[stairway2seven]

Did you guys buy more than one suit? I have one suit but I am thinking of buying another one to rotate so I don't wear down one.

lol no. You're going to an interview, not a marathon. Suits don't get worn down by wearing them in comfortable, air conditioned rooms where you hardly move.

Unless your suit is currently in horrid condition or poorly fitted, don't buy a new one

 

[dodolol21]

AMCAS Primary Application: $833 (17 Schools)

1. TMDSAS Primary Application: $165 (9 schools)
2. Transcript Fees: $50 (4 Transcripts: 1 Filling Application, 1 TMDAS, 1 AMCAS, 1 HPAC)
3. Letter Fees: $25 (HPAC Committee Letter) + $50 (Interfolio Dossier)
4. Secondary Application Fees: $1580 (AMCAS) + $290 (TMDSAS)
5. MCAT Registration and Prep $315 (Registration) + $276.39 (AAMC Materials) +$136.92 (Kaplan Books)
6. CASPer Registration and Prep $30 (Registration) + $50 (5 schools)
7. Interviews (10 interviews)
   • Flights: $1478 (4 flights)
   • Hotels: $904 (5 hotels)
   • Transportation: $310
   • Attire: $500 (suit, tailoring, dry-cleaning

Spoiler: CLICK TO SHOW: Interview School Specific Breakdown

• TTUHSC El Paso
  • Flights: $367.40
  • Hotel: $221.12 (big RIP had to change hotels)
  • Transportation $57.24 (big RIP from changing hotels and forgetting luggage in Uber)
• TTUHSC Lubbock
  • Flights: $407.60
  • Hotel: $18.07
  • Transportation: --
• Texas A&M
  • Flights: --
  • Hotel: $142.97
  • Transportation: $7 (gas)
• UTSW
  • Flights: --
  • Hotel: --
  • Transportation: $24.84 (gas)
• UTMB
  • Flights: --
  • Hotel: --
  • Transportation: $7 (gas)
• UTSA
  • Flights: --
  • Hotel: $88
  • Transportation: $21.84 (gas)
• UTH McGovern
  • Flights: --
  • Hotel: --
  • Transportation: --
• Baylor
  • Flights: --
  • Hotel: --
  • Transportation: --
• Northwestern
  • Flights: $164.60
  • Hotel: --
  • Transportation: $12.37
• NYU
  • Flights: $538.40 (had to change flight last minute because of class conflict)
  • Hotel: $434.04
  • Transportation: $179.78 (Uber to and from the airport, flew into Newark at high-cost timings)

TOTAL: $6993

Summary: Some of my costs were definitely above average for a few reasons. I opted not to use student hosts and a few places that were over 10 hours driving. I also had to choose hotels that allowed under 21 check-ins. Additionally, the lack of proper planning made NYU cost an insane amount. Had a couple of mishaps in El Paso because of the under 21 check-in issue that cost me a bunch there as well. However, I did keep MCAT costs and school lists reasonable, so I think it's fair to say the average app cycle will cost around 6-7k

 

[787593]

Primary applications - $1400
Secondary Applications - $2900
Kaplan MCAT prep - $2000
MCAT + reschedule - $380
Cheap interview suit - $400
Obnoxious thank you cards - $15
Travel Hotel - idk $500?