How much money did u need?

[drold2011]

For those of you who been through interviews and got accepted to a medical school: How much money did you need for the whole thing? I mean the MCAT, applying to different medical schools, traveling for interviews. How much money did you spend before landing that first acceptance letter?
How much money you think I should set aside for that cause?
I know that depends on many different factors, and it differs from one to another, but I'm trying to reach common grounds, something we can all agree on.

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[fahimaz7]

Hey,

AAMC is ~180 for the first school and another 30 for each additional school.

Secondary applications run anywhere from $0-$150.

Interviews are like traveling on vacation. Most require a place to stay, some type of transportation, and of course, airfare.

If you applied to 10 schools..

AAMC: $450
Secondary: $750
3 Interviews: $1500 (travel to them all)

It's an expensive process.

 

[student1799]

Just wanted to add: as a nontrad, I think it would be wise to budget for a larger number of schools. The average trad these days applies to about 15 schools, and many nontrads have even more (25 and up). I applied to 16 myself, but that was mainly due to geographical limitations (don't want to leave NY metro area if I can help it).

For this higher number, the costs really add up. My AMCAS fee alone was $610, and my secondaries will run me another $1600 or so. My travel costs won't be that much, because I don't expect to fly or stay at hotels, but if someone applied to the same number of schools that were further from their home, that would rise accordingly also.

Without trying to be scientific, I don't think it's inconceivble that the whole process could cost you $5,000, if you apply to a decent number of distant schools. I've heard of trad students spending that much (especially those applying cross-country).

 

[drold2011]

I think $5000 is reasonable. But its hard to come up with this amount of money when you have a family to support. Don't you thonk?

 

[student1799]

I think $5000 is reasonable. But its hard to come up with this amount of money when you have a family to support. Don't you thonk?

Yes, that is a huge amount of money, IMO. I'm astonished at how expensive applying to med school is.

If you're "officially" poor, you can apply for a waiver/reduction of the AMCAS fee. (There is a form on the site you have to fill out.) If you get the AMCAS waiver, many of the schools will also waive or reduce their secondary fees for you, so this could be worth doing if you think you're eligible. I think there's a similar fee waiver program for the MCAT (which normally costs $210).

Otherwise, I guess you have to just take a deep breath and figure out how you're going to come up with the money. (BTW, there are threads in the pre-allo forum about saving money on travel and lodging when going to interviews. You might want to check them out.)

Good luck.

 

[Barfalamule]

If you surf at mdapplicants.com a lot of people keep running tallies on how much it is costing them to apply.

 

[QofQuimica]

I think $5000 is reasonable. But its hard to come up with this amount of money when you have a family to support. Don't you thonk?

Yes, it is hard for many people even if you don't have a family to support. But $5000 is a very realistic amount to expect to spend on the MCAT and applications. And if that makes you blanch, I am sorry to say that things only get worse once you get here. I laugh myself silly these days whenever I see premeds complaining about how expensive the MCAT is. Wait until you see how much the USMLE registrations cost, especially considering that you have had no income for the past two or three years.

 

[Vith]

To pay for all this, do you just borrow more your application and interview year, sell drugs, or prostitute yourself?

 

[engineeredout]

To pay for all this, do you just borrow more your application and interview year, sell drugs, or prostitute yourself?

Hint though, take the money up front.

 

[drold2011]

Yes, that is a huge amount of money, IMO. I'm astonished at how expensive applying to med school is.

If you're "officially" poor, you can apply for a waiver/reduction of the AMCAS fee.

Yeah! I think I heard about something like that before, but I won't qualify for that. I guess I need to get "POORER" .
But I will look for the "travel & interview costs" threads you talked about. I think they can be helpfull.

 

[lainey234]

When all is said and done I expect to spend in th 5k - 6k range on applications and interviews. I applied to 18-20 schools and sent each secondary I got back. So far I have one interview which i have to fly to and I hope to get a couple more.

The one thing I did not count on was the deposits. DO schools require anywhere from $1500 - $2000 to hold your spot and most require the deposit within one month of acceptance. So let's say you get into one school, but then one you like a little better comes along a few months later. You would need to put down about $3k in cash just in deposits. Oh, and they are not refundable if you change your mind so your first $1500 is down the drain.

This process is insanely expensive. I'm not sure how a traditional student could possibly afford it without their family's help.

 

[notdeadyet]

Non-traditionals shouldn't expect to pay any more than traditionals. Unprepared nontrads or nontrads with poor history should expect to pay more.

The reason nontrads historically have applied to more schools is because nontraditionals often come from academic backgrounds that are less competitive than traditional counterparts. But if you're a nontrad with a 3.5/30 you should expect to need to apply to about as many schools as a traditional applicant witha 3.5/30.

 

[p30doc]

so far just primaries + secondary costs have been about $6000

 

[drold2011]

When all is said and done I expect to spend in th 5k - 6k range on applications and interviews. I applied to 18-20 schools and sent each secondary I got back. So far I have one interview which i have to fly to and I hope to get a couple more.

The one thing I did not count on was the deposits. DO schools require anywhere from $1500 - $2000 to hold your spot and most require the deposit within one month of acceptance.

My God! . I didn't know that they request such a big deposit. I was expecting it to be around $500, like other schools. Do they break it down in payments, or it's "cash down" " show me the Money" deposit?!

 

[notdeadyet]

My God! . I didn't know that they request such a big deposit. I was expecting it to be around $500, like other schools. Do they break it down in payments, or it's "cash down" " show me the Money" deposit?!

Show me the money. Also, for some DO schools, the deposit is non-refundable. So if you decide to go to another school, you forfeit the deposit.

 

[drold2011]

Show me the money. Also, for some DO schools, the deposit is non-refundable. So if you decide to go to another school, you forfeit the deposit.

What?!!! Is this legal? How can they get away with that? What do they usually say to justify this?

 

[DrMidlife]

What?!!! Is this legal? How can they get away with that? What do they usually say to justify this?

That $2000 out of your pocket says that you are not messing around with the DO school. It says that you are not messing around with the huge number of waitlistees who would happily, gleefully buy your spot for $20,000. It says that the DO school can safely assume that, barring an unforeseen event (such as your #1 school accepting you later), the DO school can plan on you being part of the next class. That $2000 minimizes class list churn and chaos, which would increase exponentially (and utterly unmanageably) towards the start of school. It ensures that the class will be full, thus fully funded by the feds and the state (every school gets some state and federal funding) and fully sustainable in the longer term.

That $2000 is a barrier to the behavior that you would see without it. It's the only insurance DO schools have for dealing with applicants who will jump to MD schools late in the game. It keeps acceptees from holding multiple acceptances like a poker hand, and it maximizes the number of waitlistees who can get off the waitlist in time to relocate before school starts.

 

[drold2011]

That $2000 out of your pocket says that you are not messing around with the DO school. It says that you are not messing around with the huge number of waitlistees who would happily, gleefully buy your spot for $20,000. It says that the DO school can safely assume that, barring an unforeseen event (such as your #1 school accepting you later), the DO school can plan on you being part of the next class. That $2000 minimizes class list churn and chaos, which would increase exponentially (and utterly unmanageably) towards the start of school. It ensures that the class will be full, thus fully funded by the feds and the state (every school gets some state and federal funding) and fully sustainable in the longer term.

That $2000 is a barrier to the behavior that you would see without it. It's the only insurance DO schools have for dealing with applicants who will jump to MD schools late in the game. It keeps acceptees from holding multiple acceptances like a poker hand, and it maximizes the number of waitlistees who can get off the waitlist in time to relocate before school starts.

I guess it makes sense when you put it this way!
But I still think it is too much!

 

[notdeadyet]

That $2000 out of your pocket says that you are not messing around with the DO school.

Bull$hit. All it does is beef up the coffers of the medical school and further favor the rich kid applicant in the process.

Osteopathic schools accept people from early fall through late spring. You may interview at Touro University in the early fall and hear back in a few weeks with an acceptance letter while you haven't even scheduled an interview at PCOM yet.

So what do you do? You either jump on the Touro ship because it's the first one that offered you the spot, in which case you feel like the ugly kid that was happy just to be asked to the dance. Or you put down the deposit so that you have a shot at medical school and kiss it off as a donation if a school you prefer offers you a seat later.

That $2000 minimizes class list churn and chaos, which would increase exponentially (and utterly unmanageably) towards the start of school.

It minimizes churn by minimizing freedom of choice of the applicant. Unless he's well heeled. Osteopathic schools do it because they can get away with it and make more money, no other reason.

That $2000 is a barrier to the behavior that you would see without it.

Yeah, a barrier to weighing your options and choosing the best school for you. Osteopathic schools with this policy prey on desperation. "I'd better say 'yes' because I don't know if anyone else will have me." They could care less about you being a bad fit for the school. Hey, your check cashed.

I'm not arguing that the non-refundable deposit is a great deal for the school, but in no way is it a good shape for the applicant. It exploits the desperate. Sad.

 

[lainey234]

Bull$hit. All it does is beef up the coffers of the medical school and further favor the rich kid applicant in the process.

Osteopathic schools accept people from early fall through late spring. You may interview at Touro University in the early fall and hear back in a few weeks with an acceptance letter while you haven't even scheduled an interview at PCOM yet.

So what do you do? You either jump on the Touro ship because it's the first one that offered you the spot, in which case you feel like the ugly kid that was happy just to be asked to the dance. Or you put down the deposit so that you have a shot at medical school and kiss it off as a donation if a school you prefer offers you a seat later.

It minimizes churn by minimizing freedom of choice of the applicant. Unless he's well heeled. Osteopathic schools do it because they can get away with it and make more money, no other reason.

Yeah, a barrier to weighing your options and choosing the best school for you. Osteopathic schools with this policy prey on desperation. "I'd better say 'yes' because I don't know if anyone else will have me." They could care less about you being a bad fit for the school. Hey, your check cashed.

I'm not arguing that the non-refundable deposit is a great deal for the school, but in no way is it a good shape for the applicant. It exploits the desperate. Sad.

I'm sorry, I do tend to agree with notdeadyet on this one. I have 3 DO interviews next month and I am trying my darndest to time it right. I could probably afford to put deposits down at multiple schools, but that doesn't mean I WANT to. I could stand to lose 4k+ if I play this wrong and that is after I have already spent some 2k on secondaries. It's crazy how much med schools make off applicants.

MD schools deal with the exact same thing. Lots of MD applicants have first choice/back up schools in mind. If they are lucky the hold multiple acceptances (For $100-$200) and decide at the last minute. Somehow, their whole system doesn't come tumbling down. DO schools take advantage. It is sad, but it's true.

 

[QofQuimica]

MD schools will even refund your deposits as long as you withdraw before the traffic date (usually May 15). I got all of my deposits back with no hassle after withdrawing from several schools post-deposit but pre-traffic date. Not sure why DO schools have these policies, but I feel for you guys.

 

[drold2011]

MD schools will even refund your deposits as long as you withdraw before the traffic date (usually May 15). I got all of my deposits back with no hassle after withdrawing from several schools post-deposit but pre-traffic date. Not sure why DO schools have these policies, but I feel for you guys.

could it be that DO schools have more people leaving them for other schools? so they decided to make it harder on people to leave!?